


Light of Lothal

by TheNightFury



Series: Light Of Lothal [1]
Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Baby Ezra, Gen, Kallus is a father, Papa Kallus, father/son relationship, young ezra
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-04
Updated: 2018-02-18
Packaged: 2018-10-27 21:58:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 30,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10817565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNightFury/pseuds/TheNightFury
Summary: Kallus knew nothing about parenting or raising children, yet here he was, adopting a child who had just lost his parents and was now being hunted by the Empire that he worked for. It was insane, but Kallus didn’t regret his decision for one second.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm posting this a little sooner then planned but I felt it was appropriate to post it early for May the 4th so enjoy!

In the far outskirts of Lothal’s capitol city a young boy hid in a crumbling communications tower, desperately trying to find shelter from the cold winter air, blissfully unaware of the band of Stormtroopers coming to the tower to investigate an alert they received about a break in at the tower. Though the Empire had long since abandoned the crumbling tower, the Empire was on high alert after an attack by a band of Rebels on the Capitol city a week earlier. 

Agent Kallus wearily eyed the broken down tower, wondering how anyone could have survived getting far enough inside to set the alarm off. He was fairly certain it was most likely a loth cat or some other small animal that had tripped the alarm, he had only recently joined ISB however, who was he to question his superiors? 

“Alright let’s move in,” Kallus ordered, “But be careful, the tower could be very unstable.” His men nodded so Kallus led the way inside the building, weary of any traps the potential intruder might have left for them, moving as silently as possible to try and catch the intruder by surprise. 

Kallus raised hand, signaling for his men to stop, a small frown on his face as he listened. Crying, someone, no a child, was crying. Why was a child here? Kallus signaled for his men to spread out and find the source of the crying, remaining on guard in case it was an elaborate trap. 

“Got you!” One of the troopers shouted, followed by a scream of terror. He yanked a small boy, no more than six from his hiding spot, throwing him in the ground in the middle of the room. “What are you doing here?” He shouted. The boy didn’t respond, curling up in a tight ball, sobbing uncontrollably. “Answer boy!” 

“I-I’m sorry-“ The boy whimpered.

“That’s not an answer!” The trooper snarled, kicking the boy’s stomach. 

“Stop!” Kallus snapped, grabbing the troopers arm and yanking him away from the boy, putting himself between him and the trooper.

“He broke into an Imperial facility-“

“He’s a child!” Kallus snapped. 

“Children are not above the law.”

“I’m not saying he is, but I will not allow you to beat a child!” Kallus scolded. “I will interrogate him.” 

“Yes sir,” The trooper grumbled, Kallus turning his attention to the boy, who let out a terrified whimper and scurried back until he was against the wall, curling up in a tight ball. With a heavy sigh, Kallus moved closer to the boy, kneeling down in the hopes of looking less threatening and sternly asked, 

“Why did you break into this building?”

“I-I was cold, please don’t hurt me,” the boy whimpered. 

“We won’t hurt you,” Kallus assured. “but you did break into an Imperial Facility and are out past cerfew-“

“I-I don’t have anywhere else to go,” The boy cried. “Bad men burned my house down and I-I can’t find my mamma or papa.” Kallus’s body tensed at the boys words. Rebels there had been a Rebel attack a week ago where dozens of homes where burned to the ground. Has he been out on his own this whole time searching for his parents? 

“Do you have any family friends you can stay with?” Kallus asked. 

“…my parents said If I was ever in trouble to trust Tseebo….but he wouldn’t open the door,” the boy whimpered, tears streaming down his cheeks. “No one will help me.” 

“I will help you find your parents then,” Kallus said. 

“…really?” the boy whimpered, wiping his tears. 

“Yes,” Kallus said, “Come with me and we’ll sort this all out.

“…Will I be punished?” the boy whimpered. 

“No,” Kallus assured, “I will explain the situation, just promise you won’t do this again.”

“….Okay….” he mumbled, tentatively coming out. 

“Come, let’s go find your parents.” Kallus said. The boy sniffled, suddenly darting out and throwing his arms around Kallus’s neck, nuzzling against him and saying,

“Thank you.” 

Kallus nervously cleared his throat, patting the boys head, unsure what he was supposed to do. “Your welcome….now come along.” The boy nodded his head and let go, allowing Kallus to stand up, however he immediately grabbed Kallus’s hand, tightly clinging onto it and hovering close to him, clearly uncomfortable with the other troopers. He knew he shouldn’t encourage this kind of affection from the boy, Kallus technically was a total stranger, but he didn’t have the heart to deny the clearly traumatized boy the comfort. 

“What is your name?” Kallus asked, realizing he’d never asked.

“Ezra Bridger, what’s yours?” Ezra said, looking up at him with wide eyes. 

“You can call me Kallus.” Kallus said as they carefully made their way out of the building, the troopers that had come with him keeping their distance. 

“Okay,” Ezra said. “How did you know I was here Mr. Kallus?” 

“You set off an alarm in the building,” Kallus explained, as he helped the boy climb over some debris in their path. 

“I thought this was abandoned,” Ezra admitted. 

“It is for the most part, but we still monitor the building in case we need to use it again.” 

“Do you think you will?” Ezra curiously asked. 

“I doubt it,” Kallus admitted. “It’s old and outdated.”

“So why keep it?”

“I’m honestly not sure,” Kallus admitted. 

“Is there someone you could ask?”

Kallus chuckled and said, “I doubt my superiors would bother to tell me even if they knew.”

“Why?”

“It’s not something I need to know,” Kallus explained. 

“If you guys are watching it shouldn’t you know why you’re watching it?” Ezra asked. 

“No, I am just supposed to do as I am told,” Kallus said. 

“Don’t you want to know why though?”

“Do you always ask this many questions?” Kallus asked. 

“….am I annoying you?” Ezra asked in a small voice. 

“It’s just a lot of questions,” Kallus awkwardly replied, not wanting to upset the child even more. 

“Sorry Mr. Kallus.”

“You don’t have to call me mister,” Kallus gently said. “You can just call me Kallus.”

“Mama and papa said I should always called an adult mister or miss.” Ezra said. “It’s rude not too!”

“You’re making me feel old calling me mister,” Kallus informed him with a small chuckle. 

“Mama and papa would say that the elderly are wise!” Ezra exclaimed. 

“Are you calling me elderly now?” Kallus asked with a raised eyebrow.

“….no?” Ezra innocently said. 

“I don’t believe you,” Kallus sternly said, lifting Ezra up to help him up into the transport. 

“Um….sir?” The driver asked, glancing at Ezra in confusion. 

“What? Can’t you tell he’s a recruit,” Kallus sarcastically said. “He was here when we came.”

“….he was?” The driver uncertainly asked. 

“No,” Kallus sighed, “he was attacked by Rebels and hid in the tower for safety. I’m bringing him with me so we can try and find his family.”

“Right, of course sir.” The driver mumbled, turning away from Kallus. He wasn’t exactly surprised by the troopers response, most people didn’t seem to enjoy his sense of humor. 

“Follow me,” Kallus said, walking Ezra to the back of the transport, watching as the others filed in. 

“Where are we going?” Ezra nervously asked. 

“Back to the capitol city,” Kallus explained. “From there I can access the admittance records of all the hospitals on the planet and see if your parents were taken to one of them.”

“….if they weren’t?”

“There are many other databanks I can access and see if they were listed under any of them,” Kallus assured. “Don’t worry, I promise you I will find your parents, one way or another.”

“….okay,” Ezra said, smiling nervously up at him, curling against his side as the transport started. As long as they’re alive…. Kallus thought to himself as they started towards the city.


	2. Unexpected Discoveries

The ride out to the capitol city was relatively short, Ezra becoming uncharacteristically quiet as they entered the city. Though he hadn’t known the boy for long, Kallus couldn’t help but be concerned for him. As hard as he tried to bury the dangerous thoughts, he couldn’t help himself. This was a child who was scared out of his mind with his parents missing, possibly dead and he was having to trust complete strangers to help him find them. He could only imagine how terrified he was by everything that was happening, of course the Stormtroopers violence towards the poor boy probably didn’t help….

Kallus shook his head, shoving the thought out of his mind. Soon Ezra would be reunited with his family and this would all be behind them. Or so he hoped. Kallus glanced down at Ezra, smiling softly when he saw he’d fallen asleep. He wasn’t entirely sure why Ezra was so comfortable around him, he hadn’t exactly done much to earn the boys trust. He probably shouldn’t complain too much since the boys trust in him would probably make locating his parents that much easier. Kallus frowned as he inspected a sleeping Ezra, noting how worn out and big Ezra’s clothes where. Either he came from a fairly poor family, or his clothes had worn out and he’d had to scrounge up what he could off of the streets. First thing in the morning Kallus would see about getting him another pair of clothing that fir him better. 

Soon the transport came to a stop and Kallus moved to shake the boy awake before freezing. He didn’t need to wake him up, Kallus had everything he needed to start searching for Ezra’s parents, besides, he looked like he desperately needed the sleep. Moving carefully so as not to wake the boy, Kallus carefully scooped him up, Ezra nuzzling against him. 

He knew he was getting strange looks as he walked through the base holding a sleeping child, but for the moment he couldn’t bring himself to care. Kallus scowled at anyone who gave him a strange look as he marched through the base with his head held high. There was nothing wrong with him helping a lost and terrified child. He had nothing to be sorry for. 

“Agent Kallus!” Lieutenant Lyste loudly called out from behind him. Kallus whirled around, holding a finger to his lips, revealing the sleeping Ezra in his arms. “Oh…sorry,” Lyste softly said, walking up to Kallus. “Who’s this?”

“His name is Ezra and I found him in the old communications tower,” Kallus explained. 

“He set off the alarm?” Lyste asked. 

“Yes,” Kallus said. 

“What was he doing in their?”

“Taking shelter from the cold, his home was burned down by Rebels and he was separated from his parents.”

“But the last attack was nearly a week ago! His parents must be worried sick….if they’re….alive…”

“I can imagine,” Kallus agreed. “I was going to start pulling records to see if I can find anything.”

“Would you like a second pair of eyes to help look?”

“If you’re not busy,” Kallus admitted. 

“I can spare a few hours to help reunite a family,” Lyste assured. 

“Thank you,” Kallus said, flashing a grateful smile. Kallus couldn’t even begin to express how grateful he was for Lyste’s willingness to help. This family had been apart for far too long and any help he could get would help reunite them that much sooner. “I’ll drop Ezra off in my room so he can get some sleep.”

“Probably a good idea,” Lyste agreed, following Kallus down the hall to his room. “Poor thing probably hasn’t slept well in days.”

“Or eaten well,” Kallus mumbled, noting how light Ezra was in his arms. In the morning he would make sure Ezra got a nice hot meal, Maker knew he probably needed it.

“I’m sure his parents wouldn’t mind us giving him a good meal or two before bringing him back to them,” Lyste commented. 

“It could easily take that long to find them,” Kallus agreed. If his parents had been moved to one of the shelters it could take days to find which one they were in if they even where registered. The shelters were overwhelmed with citizens who had lost everything in the raids and where still trying to process everyone who had come in. Kallus couldn’t think about those things, yes it would take time to find them, but he would. Besides, if Ezra’s parents were looking for him, it would make it that much easier to track them down.

Kallus carefully shifted Ezra in his arms so he could unlock his room. It was small with no personal artifacts to speak off, but with how often he was transferred and moved around it suited his needs perfectly. Lyste politely waited outside as Kallus entered his room, carefully prying Ezra’s hands from around him to lay him down on the bed. 

“…Kallus?” Ezra sleepily mumbled, rubbing his eyes. 

“Shh,” Kallus soothingly said, uncertainly patting Ezra’s head. “You’re safe.”

“Where…?”

“This is my room,” Kallus explained. “You can sleep in here while a friend helps me find your parents.”

“Help…?”

“It’s alright,” Kallus assured, settling Ezra on the bed. “Get some sleep, you look like you need it.”

“Mama and papa?” He mumbled, fighting to stay awake. 

“I promise I’ll do everything I can to find them,” Kallus assured, ruffling Ezra’s hair. “Now go to sleep.” Thankfully, he finally did as Kallus asked, falling into a fitful sleep. He knew he should get going, who knows how long it would take to track the Bridger’s down, but Kallus found he didn’t want to leave Ezra alone. What if he had a nightmare? What if- No. Kallus angrily shoved the thoughts out of his mind. Ezra may be a child, but he would be fine. He was safely sleeping in the heart of an Imperial Base. Nothing could get to him while he was here. Besides, he eventually would need to learn that the Galaxy was a cruel, unforgiving place. 

With that thought firmly in mind, Kallus straightened up and walked out of the room, forcing himself to not look back as he shut the door. 

“Everything alright?” Lyste asked. 

“Yes,” Kallus said. “Come, let’s go.” Lyste nodded and the pair set off, Kallus refusing to glance back. Ezra was fine, he would peacefully sleep the night away dreaming of his parents and hopefully by morning he would safely be in their arms again. Most likely it would take longer than that, but soon, very soon.

With that thought firmly in mind, Kallus and Lyste made their way to the hub. The hub was completely empty except for the pair, which would have been unusual but given it was well past midnight Kallus wasn’t too surprised. The pair found separate terminals to log onto, inserting his cylinder code into the terminal and pulling up Ezra’s files.

“Alright, let’s start with finding his parents’ names….” Kallus muttered, searching for Ezra’s files. “His parents are Mira and Ephraim Bridger…” Kallus read off.

“Alright let’s see what I can find…” Lyste muttered, typing as Kallus scanned Ezra’s file. 

“He’s seven?” Kallus said, stunned. With how small and thin he was Kallus could have sworn he was much younger. Kallus shook his head and continued to scan the document, freezing when he saw the notation at the end that read To be terminated.

“Kallus, we….have a problem….” Lyste informed him. 

“Not as bad as what I found I’d imagine,” Kallus whispered, unable to tear his eyes off the word ‘terminate’. They were going to kill a child? Why? What threat could a child be to the Empire?

“The Bridger’s where arrested for treason,” Lyste hissed.

“What?” Kallus asked, glancing at Lyste’s screen. Given what Ezra’s file said, he wasn’t exactly surprised, but why go after a child? What did Ezra’s parents do to deserve being arrested for treason and have then son hunted like this? He could maybe justify arresting his parents, if he knew what they had done, but flat out executing a child? There was no justification for something so atrocious. 

“The Empire tried to burn him alive…” Lyste whispered, mortified. “We burned his house down, not the Rebels.” Kallus’s mind reeled as he processed what Lyste was telling him. No, the Empire would never do something like this. They were supposed to help people! Not slaughter them like animals without even giving them a trial! The Empire would never do something so inhuman. As much as he tried to convince himself otherwise though, the evidence was right in front of him, taunting him. This was not the Empire he signed up for.

This had to be a mistake, there was no way the Empire would do this. This had to be one of the higher ups with some sort of vendetta against the Bridgers. He just needed to do a little digging, find the monster responsible and clear Ezra’s name. As much as he tried to tell himself this though, he couldn’t fully convince himself that was the truth. Even if this was an officer with a vendetta, the order to terminate a child was still approved. 

The Empire was hunting for a child, a child he was now harboring right in the heart of the Empire. Duty demanded he turn Ezra in or even put a blaster through his head while he slept, it would be far more merciful then what the Empire would do….before the thought was fully formed Kallus shoved it away in disgust.. He would not murder a child. But the question still remained of what he would do now. Hiding him wouldn’t be enough, he was only a child, sooner or later the Empire would find him. No, he had to make Ezra disappear.

“Lyste….I am about to something very illegal,” Kallus said. “I would appreciate it if you left and pretended you never saw Ezra. Please.” 

“No,” Lyste firmly said. 

“Lyste, I can’t let a child be-“

“You misunderstand,” Lyste said. “Whatever you do, I’m with you Kallus.” 

“If we get caught, it will be seen as treason-“

“I know,” Lyste assured. “I won’t stand for the cold blooded murder of a child though.”

“Once we do this, there’s no going back,” Kallus said. 

“If you’re doing this, so am I,” Lyste firmly said. “So what’s the plan?”

Realizing there would be no talking Lyste out of this, he said, “We need to find a child who’s recently died but has not been reported to the Empire yet and have Ezra take on his identity. The closer the age the better.” 

“I have an idea,” Lyste said. “Earlier today we were investing some of the homes that were burned down and in one we found a child’s body.” 

“Who?” Kallus asked. 

“We can’t identify the body, it was too badly burned, but he was found in the Morgan home and they only have one child Dev Morgan,” Lyste explained, pulling up a file. 

“That’s perfect,” Kallus said, scanning the file, the boy was almost six months younger then Ezra which would work in their favor, Ezra looked young for his age, make it easier to convince them he couldn’t be Ezra because he’s so young. Neither his or Dev’s files had holo’s attached to them, making the switch even easier for them to make. “Have you submitted the report?”

“Not yet,” Lyste said, pulling up his mission report. “I can change it so we found the body in the Bridger home and we can say we are assuming it was Ezra.”

“And Ezra will become Dev,” Kallus finished. “But will any of the troopers with you notice?”

“Doubtful, we went through many houses and found quite a few bodies,” Lyste assured. “My team even went through the Bridger home though we were told the Rebels burned it down.”

“The perfect cover to quietly take down traitors…” Kallus whispered. 

“That’s my guess.” Lyste agreed. “From what I could find it was set ablaze during the raid.”

“What if the raid was a set up specifically to quietly take out Rebel sympathizers,” Kallus whispered. 

“All those people rebels?” Lyste asked. 

“No, sacrificed to find the Rebels…” Kallus corrected, mind struggling to process everything he was discovering. But it was all merely speculation, he could be wrong. This could all be a big misunderstanding….Kallus glanced back over at Ezra’s file, heart sinking. Even if he could convince himself that the Empire wasn’t involved in the so called Rebel attack, he couldn’t pretend to not know the Empire was actively hunting down a child to execute. 

“Do you really think that?” Lyste asked, mortified. 

“I don’t know what to think anymore,” Kallus admitted. “We can sort this all out later, right now we should focus on keeping Ezra safe.”

“Right,” Lyste agreed, turning back to the terminal, frantically typing, editing his report. “There,” Lyste said. “In a few days, the Empire will think Ezra Bridger’s body was found.”

“And the boy I found is Dev Morgan,” Kallus finished. “What about his parents though?”

“Dead,” Lyste said. “Killed fighting Rebels.” Or the Empire. Kallus darkly thought.

“As long as Ez- Dev is safe.” Kallus sighed. 

“What will you do with him now?” Lyste asked. 

“I don’t know,” Kallus admitted. “None of his family friends would help him and I doubt I could convince them.” 

“You don’t think they would be impressed by your charm and good looks?” Lyste asked. 

“Not while in an Imperial Uniform,” Kallus sighed. He hadn’t understood the people’s distrust of the Empire before, now though…he could see why. Not that he understood why anyone would join the Rebels, they were terrorists and murderers, the Empire was hardly better at the moment however. But what if he was just reading too much into this? Maybe it was just a bad officer who had gone too far with this order, surely he could merely explain the situation and clear Ezra’s name-

No, Kallus knew it would never work. Once branded as a traitor there was no changing that. The idea hadn’t bothered him until now. “I need time to sort everything out...figure out my next move.” 

“If there’s anything I can do to help, let me know,” Lyste said. 

“I will,” Kallus assured. “Thank you….for everything.” 

“Anytime,” Lyste assured, placing a hand on Kallus’s shoulder and squeezing. 

Kallus stiffly nodded, slightly uncomfortable with the sudden physical display of affection. “I should get back to E-Dev, Dev.”

“I’m sure Dev would like that,” Lyste agreed, removing his hand. “I have some paperwork to attend to. Goodnight Kallus.”

“Goodnight Lyste,” Kallus said, turning and walking back to his room, heart hammering in his chest, a part of him sure their plan wouldn’t work, that Ezra would be found, and himself and Lyste executed for treason along with Ezra. No, he wouldn’t think about those things, he’d done all he could, all he could do now was focus on finding a way to tell Ezra he was now Dev, and find out where he would stay. Kallus silently entered his room, letting out a small sigh of relief at the sight of Ezra, no Dev, he was Dev now, peacefully sleeping. He needed to think of him as Dev now. He could not slip up. 

“Did you find mama and papa….?” Dev mumbled, rubbing his eyes. 

“No, not yet,” Kallus guiltily admitted, not wanting to have this conversation right now. He needed time to figure out how to tell him. “I’m sorry I’m just so tired I needed to stop to get some sleep.”

“M’kay,” Dev mumbled through a yawn, “Where you gonna sleep?”

“I’ll set something up on the floor so I’ll be close to you,” Kallus assured, assuming that was the issue. 

“Did I take your bed?” Dev guiltily asked, sitting up. 

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it,” Kallus assured. “I’ve slept in worse places-“

“But it’s your bed….” Dev mumbled. 

“I appreciate your concern, but please don’t worry I’ll be fine,” Kallus assured. 

“We can share,” Dev offered. 

“Share?” Kallus echoed. 

“Yea, share,” Dev said, trying to scoot over in the tiny bed making Kallus chuckle. 

“We both won’t fit, I promise I will be just fine,” Kallus gently said. 

“Please?” Dev asked, holding out his arms. 

“I….suppose we can make it work,” Kallus reluctantly agreed as he removed his breastplate making Dev’s eyes light up. Kallus shook his head as he removed the rest of his outer armor and boots before scoping Dev in his arms, getting comfortable on the small bed, Dev laying on his chest, not that he seemed to mind, Dev contently nuzzling into the crook of his neck. Kallus smiled warmly at him, running a hand through his hair as he drifted off to sleep.

I’ll protect you, I promise.


	3. Changes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ezra learns the truth about what happened to his parents and what he must do to survive.

Like every other morning, Kallus slowly woke up at 0500 hours, but unlike the past several weeks, he hadn’t dreamt of Onderon. Ever since he’d returned from that cursed mission, Kallus’s dreams had been plagued with nightmares of his men’s screams and bright green hate filled eyes that bore into his very soul, unable to move as his men’s screams where silenced. 

Last night however his sleep had been filled with pleasant dreams, filling him with a warmth he’d almost forgotten how to feel. Quickly he became aware of the warm weight resting on his chest, his foggy brain slowly piecing together everything that had happened the day before. It hadn’t been a dream, Ezra was being hunted by the Empire for treason. Ezra wa- Dev, his name was Dev now. Kallus repeated the name over and over in his mind, forcing himself to only see the boy in his arms as Dev. If he slipped up, it would mean death for him, and Kallus would never forgive himself if that happened. 

Dev loudly yawned, nuzzling against Kallus as his eyes slowly opened. 

“Good morning,” Kallus softly greeted. “Do you remember where you are?”

“In your room?” Dev slowly said. 

“Close enough,” Kallus said with a soft chuckle. “You’re certainly up early.”

“I always wake up early,” Dev said. 

“Do you now?” Kallus asked, sitting up. 

“Uh-huh,” Dev said. “Mama and papa woke up early so I did too!” Kallus’s grin fell off of his face at the mention of Dev’s parents. “What’s wrong?” Ezra asked, seeming to sense Kallus’s drop in mood.

“D-Ezra…last night….I…I wasn’t completely honest with you.” Kallus reluctantly admitted. He didn’t want to tell Dev what had happened to his parents, but he knew it would only be worse if Kallus lied and he found out later. He also realized that Dev needed to understand why it’s so important for him to only respond to the name Dev Morgan. 

“What do you mean?” Dev asked. 

“I didn’t lie when I said I hadn’t found your parents,” Kallus began. “But…I know what happened to them…I just….didn’t know how to tell you…”

“W-what happened?” Dev whimpered, eyes wide. 

Kallus sighed heavily and began, “Your parents…they’ve been accused of terrible crimes and where arrested for them.”

“What?” Dev asked, eyes wide in horror. 

“I-I’m so sorry.” Kallus mumbled, unsure how to react. Tears started spilling down Dev’s face with a whimper, he threw his arms around Kallus, breaking down in his arms. Kallus uncertainly wrapped his arms around him, rubbing soothing circles on his back. 

“Why?” Dev whimpered. 

“I…I don’t know,” Kallus admitted, tightening his grip around Dev. 

“T-they would never do something bad!” Dev cried. “T-they’ll let them go right. They’ll know they didn’t do it right?” Dev looked at him with hope filled eyes and though a part of him wanted to give him some hope, he knew in the end those hopes would get crushed. 

“I don’t know,” Kallus sighed. “I’m sorry, I wish I could do more.” 

“Why is the Empire so evil?” Dev shouted, crying in Kallus’s arms again. He wanted to point out that the Empire was not evil and calling it evil would only make things worse, but then he thought about how they were going to execute a child and found he couldn’t bring himself to scold him. 

“I know you’re angry and have every right to be, but you have to be careful,” Kallus gently said. 

“Why?” Dev snapped, yanking away from Kallus. “They took my parents! Why are you defending them...did you take them away?”

“No,” Kallus firmly said. “But, saying things like that…they’ll come after you if they find out-“

“Is that why they took my parents?”

“…it’s possible,” Kallus admitted. “I don’t have the clearance to access those files.”

“Who does?” Dev asked. 

“Ezra no,” Kallus firmly said. “If I go digging, if you go digging, bad things will happen to you.”

“I-I want to find mama and papa!”

“I know you do…but the Empire is searching for you too,” Kallus said. 

“What do you mean?” Dev asked. 

“They…they want to take you somewhere far away-“

“With my parents?” Dev hopefully asked. 

“No,” Kallus said. “You would never see anyone ever again.” 

“W-why?” Dev whimpered. 

“I don’t know,” Kallus admitted, clenching his fists. “Because there are bad people in very high places…but listen to me.”

“Why should I trust you?” Dev asked, tears streaming down his face as he stumbled away from Kallus. “You work for them!”

“I wish I didn’t,” Kallus growled. “But if I want to keep you safe I have to.” 

“Why?” Dev demanded. 

“I changed your files,” Kallus said. “As far as the Empire is concerned Ezra Bridger is dead and you are Dev Morgan.” 

“What?” Dev asked, the anger leaving his voice leaving a broken, terrified child. 

“To keep you safe, you have to become Dev Morgan,” Kallus explained, kneeling down in front of Dev. “You cannot ever respond to the name Ezra, Ezra is dead, you are Dev Morgan.” A child should never have to go through something like this, but here he was, telling a child that in essence they had to die and become someone else. The entire situation made Kallus ill. 

“But…I’m not Dev-“

“Yes you are.” Kallus firmly said. He had to get through to him. “Your name is Dev Morgan, your parents…your parents are dead. They died in a rebel attack.” He hated being so harsh with him, but if he wasn’t he would wind up dead. 

“I’m not-“

“Yes. You. Are,” Kallus firmly repeated. “You are Dev, you have always been Dev and always will be Dev do you understand?”

“Can’t you call me Ezra when we’re alone?” Dev begged, eyes misty with tears he was desperately trying not to shed. 

“No,” Kallus firmly said. “You’re not Ezra, you’re Dev.” They could never slip up, ever. The only way to ensure that they didn’t make that mistake, was to never ever let Dev think of himself as anything but Dev. He was Dev Morgan, Ezra Bridger was dead. 

“I don’t want to be Dev, I want to be Ezra,” Dev whimpered. 

“I know,” Kallus gently said. “The Empire is wrong to do this to you but…if I let you be called Ezra in private it will be that much harder for me to call you Dev in public and for you to not respond to Ezra in public. You need to always be Dev, no matter where we are or who’s with you. Do you understand?”

“Yes…” Dev mumbled. 

“What is your name?”

“…E-Dev,” Dev said. 

“You can’t hesitate Dev, say it again.”

“…my name is Dev B-Morgan.”

“Again.”

“My name is Dev Morgan.” 

“Again.”

“E- Dev, Dev B- Morgan, Dev Morgan, Dev Morgan. My name is Dev Morgan,” Dev repeated, growing more dejected each time he said it.

“It’s a start,” Kallus sighed, Dev staring at the floor miserably. “Come Dev, let’s get you some food.”

“…okay,” Dev mumbled. With a heavy sigh, Kallus put on his armor and boots, gently helping Dev with his shoes before straightening out and holding out a hand for Dev to take. He uncertainly eyed the offered hand before reluctantly taking it, eyes downcast. Kallus reassuringly squeezed his hand before leading him out of the room. 

“Good morning Agent Kallus!” Lyste greeted. 

“Good morning Lieutenant Lyste,” Kallus greeted. 

“And who’s this?” Lyste asked, smiling down at Dev who refused to look at him, glaring at the floor. 

“Go on, introduce yourself,” Kallus gently said, wanting Dev to practice on someone relatively safe. 

“Hello my name is Dev,” Dev lifelessly said, earning a sigh from Kallus. 

“Dev, Lyste is a good friend of mine, show him a little more respect.” Kallus scolded. 

“It’s alright,” Lyste said. “I read your report, I can imagine Dev has been through a lot since last night.” Kallus smiled gratefully at him and agreed, 

“He has, we were actually about to get Dev some breakfast, he hasn’t had a proper meal in far too long.” Kallus explained. 

“I was just heading there myself, may I join you?” Lyste informed them. 

“Of course, we would love the company, right Dev?” Kallus asked, glancing down at him. Dev however did not respond, staring at the floor. “Dev,” Kallus repeated, placing a hand on his shoulder. 

“Huh?” Dev asked, glanced up at him. 

“We would love to have Lyste join us right?” Kallus gently repeated. 

“I guess…” Dev mumbled, shrugging and looking down at the floor again. Kallus sighed heavily and said,

“Come on,” placing a hand on Dev’s shoulder. “This way.” Dev lifelessly followed Kallus and Lyste, his silence, disturbing Kallus more than it should. He was grieving, it was normal for him to be upset, his parents were gone. No one would questions a grieving child. He hoped. 

“I take it he….knows,” Lyste whispered. 

“Yes,” Kallus sighed. “I don’t know what to do to help him. Or even where he’ll live!”

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” Lyste kindly said. 

“I hope you’re right,” Kallus sighed as they entered the galley. He could feeling the questioning looks burning into the back of his skull as the three of them walked through the galley, but Kallus ignored the looks and continued walking, scooping some food onto plates for both himself and Dev. He wasn’t entirely sure what Dev liked, but glancing at the boy he had the sinking feeling Dev wouldn’t be up to answering anyways. With a heavy sigh Kallus made his best guess on what Dev would like before leading him to a table and set the plate down saying, 

“Here, you need to eat.” Dev slowly picked up a fork and poked at his food, not even attempting to eat it. 

“I’m not hungry….” Dev mumbled, continuing to poke at his food. 

“I know but you need to eat,” Kallus gently said. “Just a little.” Dev glanced up at him with watery eyes before reluctantly brining a forkful of food to his mouth, cringing as he forced himself to swallow. Kallus watched him for a minute before turning to his own food, his appetite quickly fleeing. He knew he needed to set a good example for Dev, but everything about this was just wrong. Dev shouldn’t have to live like this, he should be able to go by his birth name and be sitting around the table with his parents with a wide grin on his face, radiating the happiness he had just yesterday. 

“I can’t eat anymore…” Dev mumbled, staring lifelessly at his plate. Glancing over at his place, Kallus found Dev had eaten less than half. “Sorry…”

“It’s alright, maybe you’ll have a better appetite later,” Kallus gently said. Dev glanced up at him and nodded before staring at his plate again. Kallus reached over, rubbing soothing circles on his back.

“I was wondering,” Lyste began, “should we look into getting Dev some new clothes?” 

“I was planning on it,” Kallus admitted. “His are getting pretty worn out and are far too big for him. How does getting something new sound Dev?” Dev lifelessly shrugged, numbly poking at the food on his plate. He forced himself to continue to smile as he rubbed circles on Dev’s back. Dev just needed time to adjust, he’d get there. 

“Can I go back to the room?” Dev mumbled, “I’m not feeling good.” 

“Of course,” Kallus gently said. “Here let me clean that up for you,” He added, picking up Dev’s plate and heading over to a trash shoot to throw it out. 

“What is the meaning of this?” Commander Briggs demanded, standing in Kallus’s path

“I know it’s not normal but Dev here just lost his parents in a rebel attack and-“

“I read yours and Lieutenant Lyste’s report,” Briggs snapped. “I meant this!” He added, gesturing to the plate in Kallus’s hand. 

“It’s a dirty plate,” Kallus said with a raised eyebrow. 

“I meant the food your little brat over there is wasting!” Briggs snapped. 

“He’s just a child, he’s grieving-“

“Morgan,” Briggs snapped. Dev however didn’t respond, continuing to stare lifelessly at the table. “Morgan! Morgan answer me!” 

“Commander he’s-“

“Morgan!” Briggs roared, slamming his fist down on the table, startling Dev. “Answer me!”

“S-sir?” Dev stammered, shaking in his seat. 

“Why didn’t you answer me?”

“I-I d-didn’t hear you-“

“Briggs, please,” Kallus interrupted, stepping between Briggs and Dev. “He’s a child whose just lost his parents, he hasn’t been sleeping an-“

“Since when do you care about the common folk?” Briggs asked, eyeing Kallus. 

“He’s a child, it’s my job to take care of him and find someone who can take him in,” Kallus calmly said. 

“You need to teach your brat manners!” Briggs growled, glaring at Kallus. 

“You need to learn respect commander,” Kallus growled. 

“How dare-“

“Commander, is this really the place for this?” Lyste asked, making Brigs pause. He glanced around the galley, where everyone was staring at the group in various states of shock. 

“Somethings going on here, and I will get to the bottom of it,” Briggs hissed before storming out. Once he was gone, Kallus let out a breath before looking down at Dev who was staring at him with wide, terrified eyes. 

“Come on, let’s get you back to my room alright?” Kallus gently asked, scooping Dev into his arms. Dev tightly wrapped his arms around Kallus’s neck, trembling uncontrollably. 

“I’ll explain the situation,” Lyste assured. 

“Thank you,” Kallus said. “For everything.”

“Of course,” Lyste said. “Just take care of him.”

“I will,” Kallus assured, quickly fleeing the galley before anything else could happen. “It’s alright, you’re alright,” He whispered, gently rubbing Dev’s back. 

“I’m sorry,” Dev whimpered, tightly clinging onto him. 

“It’s alright,” Kallus assured. 

“I-I forgot-” Dev whimpered. 

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Kallus soothingly said, slipping into his room and locking the door. “We’ll keep practicing, you’ll get better.”

“Did I get you in trouble?” Dev asked, voice shaking. Kallus sat down heavily on the bed and assured, 

“No, no it’s just….Briggs is not an easy man to get along with and he’s never liked me. Don’t worry about it.” 

“He wouldn’t have yelled at you if I remembered my name,” Dev whimpered. 

“I promise it’s alright,” Kallus assured. “We’ll just keep practicing so it doesn’t happen again alright?”

“….okay….” Dev whispered, completely shattered. 

“What’s your name?”

“…Dev…Morgan….”


	4. Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just as things finally fall into place for Kallus and Dev, Kallus receives shocking news.

For the next several week, Kallus desperately searched for anyone who would be willing to take Dev in, to no avail. None of The Bridger’s friends would even look at the boy, claiming they didn’t know him and didn’t need another mouth to feed. Each rejection sent Dev deeper and deeper into a depression spiral that Kallus was painfully unequipped to deal with. He barely knew how to deal with his own personal issues, much less how to tackle a child’s. So, he did the only thing he could think of and tried to find someone who would take the boy in.

Lyste had kindly gone out to get Dev clothes and shoes that fit properly when they both realized Dev could not be motivated to go out with them. When Lyste had stopped by Kallus’s room to deliver them to him, he had hoped Dev would be happy to have some clothes that fit properly, however the only response he got was a lifeless,

“Thank you for your kind gift,” towards Lyste. When Kallus went to toss Ezra’s old lose clothes, he had completely broken down, devastated at losing the last ties he had to his parents. A part of Kallus wanted to keep the clothes so he had something, but reminded himself that it would be very suspicious of him to keep such old and ratty clothes. 

Every night before bed and first thing in the morning, Kallus would drill with Dev, asking him his name, birthday, and his parents name’s over and over again, making him respond until he didn’t hesitate with his answer. It was painful having to tell Dev over and over again that Ezra Bridger was now dead, he couldn’t imagine how it was affecting Dev’s psyche but they didn’t have a choice. If Dev wanted to live he had to do this. Kallus reminded himself of this fact every morning during their drills, but nothing helped the tight knot in his stomach. 

He would give anything to see Dev’s bright smile, to see the light that had radiated off of him back before the Empire snuffed his light out. He went from wearing his heart on his sleeve to being emotionless, and empty shell that walked the halls, refusing to look at anyone or anything. Kallus risked glancing over at Dev who was staring at his food, listlessly pushing his food around his plate. 

“Dev,” Kallus gently said, “You’ve hardly eaten all week. I know it’s hard but you need to eat.” 

“I’m not hungry,” Dev mumbled. 

“I understand you don’t feel hungry but you need to eat something,” Kallus begged. “Please?”

“What’s the point? No one wants me,” Dev cried. 

“What are you talking about?” 

“None of my parent’s friends will even look at me! And you keep trying to get rid of me too!” Dev shouted, tears streaming down his face. 

“No, that’s not it at all!” Kallus hurriedly assured. “I just- I thought you’d be happier with your friends-“

“They don’t want me!” Dev whimpered. “No one does- I want my mama and papa!”

“I know, I know,” Kallus soothingly said, ignoring the troopers that where staring at the pair. “I wish I could bring them back, but they’re gone. And I’m sorry I made you feel unwanted. I-I would love to have you stay with me but I thought you would rather be with friends-“

“They don’t want me,” Dev whimpered. 

“Well I do,” Kallus firmly said. 

“I could stay with you?” Dev hopefully asked. 

“If you want to, yes,” Kallus assured. 

“I do!” Dev assured, tightly hugging him. 

“Alright then,” Kallus said, smiling warmly at him. “I’ll start working on the arrangements.” It was absolutely insane taking Dev in, he knew next to nothing about children and he was an ISB agent, working for the very people who would kill Dev if they ever found out the truth. No, they wouldn’t, the Empire would not find out who Dev was; he would be safe. Dev stiffened against Kallus, letting go and pulling away, emotionlessly mumbling,

“Thank you for taking me in.”

“Dev, is everything alright?” Kallus asked, concern for him growing. For just a moment he’d gotten a glimpse of the happy boy he found in the tower, but in the blink of an eye he was gone again, leaving behind the shell of a boy. 

“I’m fine,” Dev said. 

“Are you sure?” Kallus gently asked. “You don’t seem fine.”

“I am,” Dev mumbled. 

“You can talk to me about these things,” Kallus assured. 

“I know, but I’m fine,” Dev repeated. 

“Alright,” Kallus sighed, deciding to drop it for the moment. Dev would talk when he was ready…right? He was grieving it would take time for him to recover from that, Kallus just needed to give him the space and allow him to grieve however he needed to. Time healed all wounds, he just needed time. It had taken him months to get over when happened on Onderon, if he was honest with himself he still hadn’t fully healed from that nightmare, it made sense that Dev just needed more time. “I’m going to go and see about moving to a room with two rooms, how does that sound?”

“Okay…” Dev mumbled, refusing to look up at him. 

“Do you not like that?” 

“…will you be far away?” Dev asked in a small voice. 

“Of course not,” Kallus gently assured, ruffling Dev’s hair. “I’ll be right by you if you need anything, alright?”

“Okay,” Dev said.

“Let’s go see about that then,” Kallus said, standing up, Dev timidly following him. As they made their way through the compound, they passed by Briggs who sneered down at Dev as he passed. Dev moved closer to Kallus, reaching out to grab his hand before shyly pulling away. Kallus over gently took it, squeezing his smaller hand encouragingly. 

“Agent Kallus, just the man I wanted to see,” Tarkin said. 

“Grand Moff Tarkin,” Kallus greeted. 

“Who is this?” Tarkin asked, gesturing to Dev. 

“This is Dev Morgan, his parents were killed during the raids a few weeks ago so I’ve decided to take him in.”

“I’m surprised Agent Kallus,” Tarkin said. “You do not strike me as the parental type.” 

“No,” Kallus agreed, smiling down at Dev. “But Dev’s an amazing kid.” Dev looked up at Kallus with wide, awe struck eyes, making Kallus chuckle softly at him. 

“I do hope this will not affect your work with ISB,” Tarkin icily asked.

“Of course not,” Kallus assured. 

“Good,” Tarkin said. “Come with me then, we have to discuss your next mission.”

“Of course,” Kallus said, glancing down at Dev. “Do you now the way back to our room?” Dev nervously nodded, shifting uncomfortably. “Wait for me there, we’ll work on getting a new room once I’m finished alright?” 

“Kallus there yo- Grand Moff Tarkin!” Lyste exclaimed, quickly standing at attention. 

“Lieutenant,” Tarkin stiffly greeted. “Come along Agent Kallus, we have urgent matters to attend to.” 

“Of course,” Kallus agreed. 

“I can escort Dev back to your room?” Lyste offered. 

“Thank you,” Kallus said, flashing him a quick smile. “Go with Lyste Dev, I’ll be back soon.” Dev nervously nodded as Kallus turned away, silently following Tarkin to his office. Tarkin was not one for small talk, and he refused to discuss anything about missions out in the open like this, leaving very little for them to say to one another. Once safely inside Tarkins office, Kallus was met with Colonel Yularin and Governor Pryce. 

“I imagine you’re wondering why I’ve brought you her,” Tarkin began. 

“It crossed my mind yes,” Kallus agreed, standing up a little straighter. He was just an ISB agent, why would Tarkin ask for him to be in a meeting with such high ranking officers? And why would he personally be assigning Kallus a mission?

“I know this mission is very personal to you, I thought it would be fitting for you to be a part of it.”

“How is it personal to me?” Kallus asked. 

“You will be going to Lasan to capture those responsible for the slaughter on Onderon.”


	5. Begining of the End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kallus struggles with the idea of having to go to Lasan to bring justice to the men killed on Onderon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for how late this one is! Life has been a little crazy for me but here it is! Hope you enjoy it!

Kallus numbly left Tarkin’s office after he was dismissed, struggling to process everything he’d been told, clutching the datapad in his hands. Everything had happened so fast after Tarkins declaration, information was flung at him as his sluggish mind tried to process everything, desperately pushing flashes of fire and smoke out of his mind, his men’s screams drowning out Tarkin’s words, flashes of the conversation crossing his mind. 

_We have reason to believe the Royal Family may have been involved in the attack._

_I cannot imagine the Royal Family doing something so vile._

_They are savages after all._

_That is why we are sending Kallus, he will find Captain Orrelios and capture the Lasat responsible, if the Royal Family refuses to turn him over to us, then we will know they were involved in this._

Kallus pulled up Captain Orrelios’s file, studying the holo image. This wasn’t the lasat that had ambushed his men on Onderon, but he may be indirectly responsible for it; whether he directly ordered it, or failed to control one of his men. Kallus wanted to hate Captain Orrelios and the Royal Family, but every time he mustered any hatred for him, he thought of Dev, how the Empire was relentlessly hunting down a child for execution, draining all the anger out of him. What if the Empire was lying about the Lasat’s as well? 

No, they weren’t completely lying, a lasat was responsible for the slaughter, but that didn’t necessarily mean Lasan was behind it all, right? Kallus had once been so sure off everything, now he found himself questioning everything all because of a little boy. Was it fate that Kallus found Dev in that old communications tower or just a happy coincidence? All he knew for certain was that Dev was making him question everything he had once been so sure off and he didn’t know how to process it all. Kallus glanced down at Captain Orrelios’s file, frowning, grateful for the late hour making the halls mostly abandoned, allowing him to try and sort his thoughts out before returning to Dev. 

He may not know what he felt about the Empire or the Rebellion anymore, but he did know one thing, right now he had the chance to hunt down and punish the person responsible for his men’s brutal slaughter, and the Empire was the one helping him do so. It was the one thing he knew that for certain was the right thing to do. If Captain Orrelios had any honor, he would help Kallus find those responsible and bring them to justice, if not, well he wouldn’t be entirely surprised. 

“Kallus!” Lyste exclaimed, startling Kallus out of his thoughts. 

“Lyste what are you doing here?” Kallus curiously asked. 

“I um took the liberty of getting you and Dev new quarters,” Lyste timidly admitted. “I wanted to catch you after your meeting so I could show you where your new room was.”

“Lyste I- thank you that was very kind of you,” Kallus stammered, stunned by his kindness. 

“I-It was nothing,” Lyste stammered, ducking his head. 

“I greatly appreciate it,” Kallus assured. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Lyste more confidently said, looking back up at Kallus. 

“Is Dev all settled then?”

“Yes,” Lyste informed him, leading him down a different hallway. “He actually smiled when I showed him his new room.”

“I haven’t seen him smile in weeks…” Kallus marveled. 

“It was nice to see him smile but…” 

“But what?” Kallus worriedly asked. 

“Kallus I think Dev doesn’t think he’s allowed to be happy.”

“Why do you think that?” 

“Well he looked….ashamed of himself before going back to being depressed…I wonder if he feels it’s wrong for him to be happy since his parents died so recently,” Lyste explained. 

“That does make sense…. I’ll see if I can get him to talk to me about it.” Kallus said. “Hopefully I can get him to talk before I leave tomorrow…”

“You have a new mission?” Lyste asked. 

“Yes….Lasan…” Kallus admitted, letting his guard slip. He could trust Lyste, he was a friend. 

“They’re sending you to the home world of those beasts!” Lyste cried. 

“Maybe not all Lasats are like the one-….you know,” Kallus sighed. “Maybe Captain Orrelios will help me find the one responsible and let the Empire bring him to justice.” 

“And if he refuses?” Lyste worriedly asked.

“The Empire would have been right,” Kallus said, shrugging. “I have to try though.”

“I just…I can’t stand the thought of you getting hurt again…”

“I’ll be fine,” Kallus assured. 

“You said the same before Onderon,” Lyste said, eyes wide in horror when he realized what he’d said, “Not that I’m saying you can’t take care of yourself I just meant-“

“I understand,” Kallus hurriedly said. “I appreciate your concern though.”

“I um…friends worry about other friends,” Lyste awkwardly said. 

“I’m lucky to have you as a friend,” Kallus admitted, placing a hand on Lyste’s shoulder. 

Lyste ducked his head stammering, “W-we or you should check on Dev since you’re leaving in the morning and I’m sure he wants to say goodbye.” 

“Of course,” Kallus agreed. Why was Lyste acting so…strangely? Kallus didn’t have time to think about it, as Lyste was hurrying down the hall, leaving Kallus behind. Slightly concerned, Kallus followed after him, the pair falling silent as Lyste suddenly stopped in front of a room. 

“Here are your new quarters, I hope you find them to your satisfaction.” Lyste mumbled, unable to look him in the eye. 

“I’m sure they’re wonderful,” Kallus assured, choosing not to mention he generally spent very little time in his quarters. “I’ll be leaving at 0700 tomorrow.”

“Good night Kallus, I will hopefully be able to see you off in the morning.” 

“I hope so,” Kallus admitted, “good night.” Flashing him a smile before stepping inside his new quarters. Much like his old quarters, his new quarters was sparsely furnished, all the walls and furniture gray with no natural lighting, but unlike his old quarters which only had his bed, fresher, and closet, his new quarters had a main room with three doors, one on each wall which Kallus assumed where two bedrooms and a fresher. 

“Dev? I’m back?” Kallus called, one of the doors almost immediately opening and Dev running over to great him.

“Hi!” Dev greeted, happily hugging his legs. 

“Someone’s in a good mood,” Kallus commented, chuckling at him. 

“The fresher here actually has warm water!” Dev exclaimed, eyes lighting up. 

“Did you not have warm water in your old home?” Kallus asked, frowning. 

“Some…but not a lot,” Dev admitted. “Mama and papa-“ Dev froze, quickly growing somber again. 

“Does talking about your parents hurt?” Kallus gently asked, kneeling down so he was eye level with Dev. 

“A little…” Dev admitted. “But….”

“But what?”

“Is it….wrong to be happy?” Dev asked, eyes flicking around the room uncertainly. 

“Of course not,” Kallus assured, guessing where Dev was going, thinking back to what Colonel Yularen told him in the med bay after his mission on Onderon, “We can’t control what we feel, we can only control how we react to those feelings.” 

“So…I need to be better about not showing how I feel?” Dev asked. 

“No,” Kallus said. “Why would you think that?”

“I was sad about my parents and forgot I was Dev…” Dev mumbled. “I don’t want you to get in trouble because of me…”

“Dev, that was an accident,” Kallus gently said, scooping Dev up into his arms, hugging him close. “You’re just a child, no one expects you to hide your emotions.”

“Everyone here seems to though,” Dev mumbled.

“It’s….what’s expected,” Kallus sighed, sitting down at the small table.

“Why?” Dev asked. 

“The Empire thinks emotions make us less efficient so they encourage us to not show our emotions.” 

“If they think no one should show emotions, why is it different for me?” Dev asked, confused. 

“You’re a child, it’s different for you.”

“Why?”

“You haven’t matured enough to-“

“So being mature is not having emotions?” Dev asked. “That doesn’t sound like what mama and papa said?”

“What did they say?” Kallus soothingly asked. 

“They said we should let ourselves feel what we’re feeling…because trying to hide how we feel will only hurt us.” 

“That sounds like some very good advice,” Kallus informed him. 

“But you almost got in trouble…” 

“Hardly,” Kallus said with a laugh. “Briggs has been trying to get me for years, he will always find something no matter what I do.”

“That’s not fair,” Dev mumbled. 

“Hardly anything in life is,” Kallus sighed. “We just have to do our best despite that.”

“I….think I understand,” Dev mumbled. “I’ll try not to feel bad about being happy.”

“I know that’s what your parents would want,” Kallus assured. 

“How do you know that?” Dev asked. 

“I can’t imagine someone who raised someone as amazing as you wanting anything less,” Kallus said. Dev beamed at him, eyes watering and tightly hugged him, nuzzling against him. After a minute Dev let go and asked, 

“Can I ask you a question?”

“You just did,” Kallus teasingly said. 

“Can I ask two questions?” 

“And their goes you’re second one,” Kallus said, winking, “But I’ll allow a third one.” He added making Dev giggle. 

“Why does your helmet have so many holes?”

“What?” Kallus asked, the question seemingly coming out of nowhere. 

“Your helmet,” He repeated, pointing at the helmet sitting on the shelf. “Why does it have holes? Shouldn’t it not have holes to protect you better?”

Kallus chuckled and admitted, “I have no idea why it’s like that, I just know that’s the helmet ISB agents are supposed to wear.”

“Does everyone have a different helmet?”

“Different positions have different armor yes,” Kallus agreed, chuckling warmly at him. 

“Why?” Dev asked. 

“So we can tell who is who in simple terms,” Kallus explained. 

“Oh,” Dev said, a small frown on his face. “I guess that makes sense…”

“Dev before we get to far off track theirs something I need to talk to you about.” Kallus sighed, finding himself dreading the conversation. 

“What?” Dev asked, seeming to sense Kallus’s nervousness. 

“I’m being deployed for a very important mission tomorrow-“

“Where are we going?” Dev curiously asked. 

“Not we, just me,” Kallus corrected. 

“Why?” Dev asked. 

“This mission is very dangerous and I need you to stay here where it’s safe.” 

“If it’s dangerous why are you going?” Dev asked, distressed. 

“It’s my job,” Kallus gently explained. “I’m trained to go on missions like this.” 

“But it’s dangerous….” Dev mumbled. 

“Yes, but a lot of innocent people will be safer once my mission is complete,” Kallus explained. “The risks are worth it if it helps so many people.”

“What if you don’t come home?” 

“Don’t worry, I will,” Kallus firmly said. 

“How do you know that?”

“I’ve come home every time so far, and I don’t intend to change that,” Kallus assured. “Especially now that I have someone who needs me back home.” 

“Pinkey promise?” Dev hopefully asked. 

“Pinkey promise?” Kallus curiously asked. 

“It’s a super special promise!” Dev said holding out a pinkey. “It’s the most powerful promise you can make!”

“Alright, pinkey promise,” Kallus said with a soft chuckle, linking his pinkey with Dev’s, making his eyes light up for a moment, the light quickly leaving his eyes as he mumbled, 

“I really don’t want you to go though…”

“Hey, I made a pinkey promise,” Kallus firmly said. “And a pinkey promise is a pinkey promise.” 

“I’ll really miss you,” Dev mumbled. 

“I’ll miss you too,” Kallus assured. “A very wise man once told me distance makes the heart grow fonder.” 

“What does that mean?”

“It means being apart from loved one’s makes you realize how important they are too you,” Kallus explained. 

“So you don’t know how much you need them til they’re gone?”

“Exactly.”

“Like a mom and dad?”

“That’s one example yes,” Kallus gently said, rubbing soothing circles on Ezra’s back. “Do you miss them?”

“I really like you but….I miss them,” Dev admitted, ashamed. 

“It’s okay to feel that way,” Kallus assured. “You can be happy here and still miss them. I still miss the boys from my first unit.”

“What happened to them?” Dev asked. Kallus’s arms stiffened around Dev, his mind taking him back to that nightmare. 

“Mr. Kallus?” Dev asked, shaking his arm. 

“Sorry, sorry I um…” Kallus said, dragging himself back to the present. “I…I failed them and now they’re gone…”

“What do you mean you failed them?” Dev asked.

“I didn’t protect them, it was my job to keep them safe…but I’m the only one who got away.”

“Away from who?” Dev asked.

“Don’t worry about it,” Kallus said, not wanting to think about that horrible day any longer then he had to. “It’s getting late and I have a very early morning tomorrow.”

“Will I be able to say goodbye tomorrow?” Dev asked.

“If you’d like,” Kallus said. “Now come on, off to bed with you.”

“I’m not sleepy though!” Dev whined.

“Yes you are,” Kallus firmly said, setting him on the ground. “And so am I. Now come on.”

“Okay….” Dev mumbled, allowing Kallus to shepherd him towards his room. Trying to hide a small yawn, Dev climbed up onto his bed, nestling under the covers, Kallus uncertainly hovering, unsure of what he was expected to do. He had very little experience with children, and if he was going to be Dev’s guardian he needed to know what all was expected of him….or at least what Dev expected from him. Once he was settled Kallus awkwardly said, 

“Goodnight Dev,” before turning and walking towards the door. 

“Mr. Kallus?” Dev asked in a small voice. 

“Yes?” Kallus asked, turning to face him. 

“I…I uh….night,” Dev mumbled. 

“Goodnight,” Kallus gently said, a soft smile on his face. Dev nuzzled back into the pillow, a smile on his face. Kallus smiled at him before stepping out of the room, hitting the button to shut the door behind him. Kallus hesitated at the doorway, concerned Dev would have another nightmare and he wouldn’t hear it but quickly shoved the thought away. Dev would come get him if he had a nightmare, he knew he could get Kallus, he would be fine. Besides, he needed to learn to get through the night without Kallus, and he needed to focus on mentally preparing for tomorrow. With that thought firmly in mind, Kallus made his way back to his room to get ready for tomorrow.


	6. Sleepless Nights, Early Mornings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kallus and Dev struggle with Kallus's upcoming mission and bond over a home cooked meal.

He needed to sleep, it was crucial that he be at his best for his upcoming mission. He knew this, yet no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t fall asleep. He tossed and turned, willing his mind to simply shut off so he could get some much needed rest, but sleep evaded him. A thousand thoughts swirled through his mind, each demanding his full and complete attention, his mind unable to focus on a single thought for long before another demanded attention. 

His life had once made sense, he knew who he was, what he was meant to do, who the bad guys where who the good guys where, it all made sense. Now though his perfect black and white world was being torn apart, leaving him in a terrifyingly gray world. The Empire the slaughterer of children and the Rebellion, the butcherer of the helpless. He once would have blindly followed the Empire, how could he follow them now after all he’d seen them do? Was there even another option? You were either with the Empire or against the Empire, there was no neutral. The Rebels where hardly any better than the Empire…or was it all more lies spewed by the Empire to keep people loyal? No, there was at least some truth about the atrocities the Rebellion committed, he’d seen them, lived through them. 

With a heavy sigh Kallus sat up in bed and grabbed his datapad when he finally gave up on sleep, groaning when he saw he still had another hour before he needed to be awake. He could only hope he could stay awake today. Maybe he could make himself and Dev a nice breakfast. He enjoyed cooking, but rarely had time, or anywhere he could go to cook. This early in the morning though the kitchens would be deserted so he knew the kitchen staff wouldn’t mind him cooking in their as long as everything was cleaned and put back when he was done. Besides, Dev might have an easier time eating a real meal then the gruel they’re usually forced to choke down. 

If he hurried, he could have a nice breakfast ready before Dev woke up and they wouldn’t have to eat in the galley. With a small smile Kallus stood and quickly got ready, hoping Dev would like the surprise. The door to his room hissed open, Kallus silently slipping out to avoid accidentally waking Dev, a small whimper giving him pause, his eyes glancing to where to sound came from to find Dev curled up against the wall beside the door to Kallus’s room. 

“Dev?” Kallus asked kneeling down next to him. Dev glanced up at him through half lidded eyes mumbling, 

“Morning.” Yawning and tiredly rubbing his eyes before stretching and slumping back against the wall.

“What are you doing out here?” Kallus gently asked. “You have your own bed now.”

“I couldn’t sleep,” Dev mumbled, curling in on himself, ashamed. 

“Why not?”

“I had a nightmare…” Dev whispered so softly Kallus had to strain to hear what he said. 

“Why didn’t you come and get me?” Kallus asked, frowning. He’d never turned Dev away before, why would he think he’d turn Dev away now?

“I didn’t want to wake you up….you have an important mission today.” Dev guiltily mumbled. 

“You’re health is far more important to me,” Kallus firmly said, adding as an afterthought. “Besides, I didn’t sleep very well either.”

“You didn’t?” Dev worriedly asked, Kallus mentally cursing himself for making Dev blame himself for that. 

“No, that’s why I was thinking of making a nice breakfast for us, how does that sound?”

“There’s no kitchen in here though.” Dev said, looking around the room. 

“I have friends in the kitchens who let me borrow them when they’re not being used,” Kallus assured. “So what do you say?”

“Okay!” Dev said, eyes lighting up. Kallus chuckled, ruffling Dev’s hair and said,

“Come on then.” The pair made their way through the quiet halls, only occasionally passing a patrol of troopers. They both fell silent as they walked, both unsure of what to say. Kallus had never been much of a talker, and though Dev seemed to be a chatterbox, he could tell Dev was still a little uncertain in this new environment, not that he was entirely surprised given the situation. It seemed to help when they were alone and in the safety of their room, Dev seemingly thinking it was safe to let his guard down somewhere where no one else could see them.

“When do you leave for your mission?” Dev asked. 

“In about two hours,” Kallus informed him. 

“Oh,” Dev mumbled, shoulders sinking. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back before you know it,” Kallus assured. “And if you need to talk to me, tell Lyste and he’ll get a message to me.”

“He can do that?” Dev asked. 

“We do it all the time,” Kallus dismissively said. “Lyste likes to keep in contact with me while on missions.” 

“How come?”

“We’re friends and it’s what friends do,” Kallus said, shrugging. He wasn’t entirely sure why Lyste worked so hard to talk for so little, but it warmed Kallus’s heart knowing someone cared enough to do that for him. 

“None of my friends did that….” Dev dejectedly mumbled. He couldn’t imagine why for the life of him, how could anyone not love Dev the moment they met him?

“They weren’t very good friends then,” Kallus firmly said. “And they certainly didn’t deserve to have someone as kind as you care about them.” Dev flashed Kallus a small smile that Kallus returned before opening the door to the kitchen. 

“Wow!” Dev gasped, eyes wide as he looked around the massive kitchen. “I’ve never seen so much food!”

“Anything in particular you’re hungry for?” Kallus asked, chuckling as he watched Dev looked around the kitchen, eyes filled with awe and wonder. 

“I don’t know what most of this stuff is….” Dev breathed. 

“Well we’ll just have to work on that,” Kallus gently said, starting to gather ingredients. “For now….how about some waffles?”

“Mama used to make them on special occasions!” Dev exclaimed. 

“What kind of occasions?” Kallus asked as he started grabbing the necessary ingredients, setting what he needed on the countertop by the store. 

“Birthdays mostly,” Dev said. “Or when mama could get the ingredients. But she couldn’t get them often.”

“Well that won’t be a problem here,” Kallus assured, reaching for the waffle iron, cringing when he realized the waffles it made where shaped like the Imperial Insignia. He cooked here often, but he’d never before noticed how every single utensil had the Imperial Insignia on it. Or maybe he just hadn’t bothered to notice before. “We can easily get what we need for them.”

Dev beamed at him for a moment, his face slowly falling. “That doesn’t seem fair.” 

“What do you mean?” Kallus asked, starting to heat the waffle iron.

“People are starving but the Empire has so much food…”

“Your right, it’s not very fair,” Kallus agreed with a heavy sigh. “Unfortunately….there isn’t much we can do about it right now.”

“Why not?” Dev asked. 

“There are very greedy and selfish people in power, until that changes the Empire will never return to what it used to be.”

“What it used to be?” 

“The Empire once stood for peace and justice. We fought to ensure that a war like the Clone Wars never happened again,” Kallus explained as he carefully measured out ingredients. “We brought justice back to a war torn Galaxy and helped those the Republic failed to.” 

“So what happened?”

“Greed and selfishness,” Kallus sighed. “There are dangerous people in power, people who need to be removed if change is to happen.”

“Do you think it can happen?”

“I want it to,” Kallus admitted. “But….sometimes I wonder if it can.”

“I bet you could do it!”

“I appreciate the vote of confidence but I doubt I could do it alone,” Kallus admitted as he stirred the ingredients in the bowl.

“Lyste could help!”

“Even with his help two of us can’t make change,” Kallus informed him, setting the bowl down beside the waffle iron.

“Change has to start somewhere, that’s what mama and papa say!” Dev declared. 

“I suppose….”

“And if no one ever starts because they’re too afraid then change will never happen!” Kallus paused, glancing at Dev with wide eyes. 

“I….yes that’s true….how did you get so wise?”

“Mama and papa!”

“Well I hope I have the pleasure to meet them someday,” Kallus declared. 

“Do you think you will be able to?”

“I swear I will do everything I can to bring them back to you,” Kallus firmly said. 

“I know you will!” Dev said. Kallus merely hummed in response as he poured the batter into the waffle iron, silently praying he didn’t let Dev down. 

“Why does the food here usually taste so bad when there is so much food to use?” Dev asked. 

“Owning ingredients doesn’t make you a good cook,” Kallus explained as he waited for the machine to beep. “Most of the cooks here don’t care all that much about preparing good food.”

“But why? They then have to eat the gross stuff!”

“True but making a good meal takes effort, something that is in very short supply around here.” Kallus explained. “Also, the gruel we have to eat supposedly has more nutritional value.” 

“They should make you the cook!” Dev declared. 

“As nice as that sounds, most people don’t appreciate the cuisines I choose to prepare.”

“Why not?” Dev asked. 

“They tend to be foods from….other species.” Kallus admitted. 

“Why does that bother them?”

“I’m not entire sure,” Kallus admitted as he pulled the waffles out of the pan. “There’s a stigma against anything that isn’t entirely human with the Empire.” 

“Why? There are lots and lots of species that aren’t human.”

“I’m not sure how or why it started, but it’s an issue that needs to be dealt with.” Kallus sighed as he set a plate down in front of Dev along with some syrup. “For now though let’s simply enjoy a nice meal.”

“Okay!” Dev exclaimed, eagerly pouring a generous amount of syrup on his waffles before hungrily digging in. 

“Slow down or you’ll make yourself sick,” Kallus said with a chuckle. 

“But it’s so good,” Dev said through a mouthful off food.

“Yes but you’ll choke on it if you don’t slow down and chew,” Kallus chided. 

“Sorry sir,” Dev sighed, reluctantly slowing down to properly chew his food before swallowing.

“Thank you,” Kallus sighed, smiling at Dev. “I would hate to have to deal with all the paperwork if you choked.” He added winking at Dev. 

“Hey!” Dev cried, giggling. “I was going to say you should be the cook cuz these are the best waffles ever but now I won’t!”

Kallus chuckled, choosing to ignore that and tell him, “If you had told me that, I would tell you that the Empire would never let me become a cook because I am an ISB agent who was top of his class and that the Empire values that far more than good food.”

“I thought people were allowed to leave jobs and get new one’s?”

“Technically yes-“

“So become a cook!”

“It’s not that simple Dev-”

“Why not?”

“Well….” Kallus slowly began, trying to figure out how to best explain this to Dev, “You know how I said before there are very bad people in positions of power?”

“Yea.”

“Well those people would find ways to ‘help’ me decide I should stay.”

“That’s not nice.”

“No, it’s not,” Kallus agreed. “But it’s the world we live in.” 

“Well I don’t like it,” Dev grumbled, angrily poking at his food with his fork. 

“If I was a cook though, you’d have to share my food with everyone at this base,” Kallus informed him, hoping to cheer him up. “With me not being a cook, you get it all to yourself.” 

“You’ll cook for me all the time then?” Dev hopefully asked. 

“As much as I can,” Kallus corrected, but that didn’t seem to matter all that much to Dev, whose eyes lit up at Kallus’s words. 

“Thank you!” Dev cried as he eagerly went back to inhaling his food, albeit chewing it better than before, making Kallus chuckle warmly at him. He had to admit this was nice. Before he met Dev, he would spend his meals alone in the dark with only his thoughts to accompany him. Slowly, Dev’s excitable self was returning, filling the silence with endless chatter about everything and nothing. Even as a child, he hadn’t had anything like this but he liked it.

Kallus had once thought a domestic life was not for him, but with Dev, Kallus found he might actually like it. Being able to spend the whole day with Dev, listening to him chatter and be a _child,_ carefree and happy and free, something painfully unfamiliar, but so wonderful to see. With Dev he could forget about all the troubles of the Galaxy and for a moment, pretend he was just a regular citizen spending time with his son- _son._ Was it wrong to see Dev as his son? It was the very Empire he worked for that was the reason he was an orphan. 

Kallus sighed heavily, uncertainty filling him. Was taking Dev in the right thing? Dev seemed happy about it, but their where so many unknowns, how would Dev feel about living with an ISB agent? Was there a chance someone would figure out what he’d done? Kallus glanced over at Dev who had finished his food and was looking at Kallus with concern causing a weak smile to form on his face. He was stumbling blind into all of this, but Dev was worth it.

“Alright time to clean up,” Kallus declared to keep Dev from worrying, picking up both his and Dev’s plates, carrying them over to the sinks. 

“Can I do anything to help?” Dev asked, following behind him. 

“If you’d like to help me wash you can,” Kallus said, dumping their plates in the soapy water before going to grab everything he’d used to prepare the meal.

“I always helped mama and papa clean up!” Dev assured, grabbing his chair and slowly dragging it over to the sink.

“Need some help with that?” Kallus asked with a small smirk as Dev struggled to push the chair.

“I can do it!” Dev declared. 

“Alright then,” Kallus said, shaking his head and he finished gathering the dishes. As he threw the last few dishes into the sink, Dev finally managed to shove the chair over to the sink and clamor on top of it. 

“Nice of you to finally join me,” Kallus teasingly said, ruffling Dev’s hair playfully before getting to work cleaning with Dev ‘helping’ him. Though Kallus had to redo most of the dishes Dev washed, it was nice that he was so willing and eager to help him. While drying one of the plates, Dev fumbled the dish causing it to fall back into the dirty water, splashing Kallus in the process. 

“Sorry sir!” Dev cried, eyes wide in terror.

“Oh you should be,” Kallus playfully said before sticking his hand in the water, flicking it at Dev, hoping to lighten the mood. 

“Hey!” Dev cried, shaking his head. 

“You started it!” Kallus said. 

“It was an accident!” Dev cried, flinging soap at Kallus. 

“Just like that was?” Kallus asked, laughing as he blew bubbled at Dev who started giggling as he swatted at them. “Now quit splashing I don’t want to change.” He added, ruffling Dev’s hair affectionately.

“But splashing is fun!” Dev cried, scooping up more bubbled and blowing on them, blowing a little too hard causing most of them to pop. 

“Yes it is, but I don’t want to take the time to change if what I’m wearing gets soaked.”

“….would you miss your transport?” Dev asked.

“Nice try, but no,” Kallus informed him. 

“Fine,” Dev mumbled, reaching into the water to grab the plate he’d dropped, having to completely bend over to reach deep enough to grab it. 

“Hey, I promise you, you won’t even notice I’m gone.” 

“You keep saying that…” Dev mumbled.

“I understand this is scary for you after what happened to your parents, but I swear Dev I will come back.”

“Something could happen though….”

“Something could,” Kallus agreed. “But I can’t just not go because of the danger, innocent people could get hurt.”

“I don’t want to lose my dad again-“ Dev stammered, eyes wide as he processed what he’d just called Kallus who was momentarily stunned by Dev’s declaration. It didn’t make any sense to Kallus, he didn’t know a thing about parenting or even really how to show emotional support and yet, Dev looked at him, and saw a father despite how terrible a job he’d done as a parental figure. It was both shocking, and touching all at once. “I’m sorry don’t be mad at me-“

“Hey, hey I’m not mad,” Kallus quickly assured, realizing his silence had probably been mistaken for anger. “I’m…new with being a parent, my own parents weren’t around all that much and I’ve never really been very good at expressing myself and I’m sorry that’s made you think I don’t care about you because I do, I care so much. I just need a little time to learn how to better show that. There’s not really anyone here who knows that much about any of this either so I’m kind of going into this blind so it will take a little time to figure all of this out. I just want you to know you are my son and I will do everything I can to-” Without warning, Dev threw his arms around Kallus, tightly hugging him. After a split seconds hesitation, Kallus tightly hugged him back. 

It must have been quiet the sight, seeing an ISB agent tightly hugging a child, standing by a sink filled with dirty dishes, but Kallus could care less. Dev was his child, not by birth, but still his, and he needed Kallus, so Kallus would be there for him. He might not know everything about raising a child, and he knew he would probably mess up, but he would do anything for Dev. 

“Can I call you dad?” Dev mumbled after a moment, looking up at Kallus hopefully. 

“Of course you can,” Kallus assured, smiling down at him. Dev beamed at him and nuzzled into the hug. “Come on, we should finish cleaning.”

“Alright,” Dev sighed, reluctantly letting go. Though both hated the fact that Kallus had to go, Kallus knew he would do everything in his power to get home, for once someone needed him to come back and he refused to let him down.


	7. The Waiting Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kallus and Ezra anxiously wait for an uncertain future.

Kallus was fairly certain Dev was purposefully moving as slowly as possible while cleaning the rest of the dishes, but he didn’t comment on that; they had a little extra time and he could hardly blame him for wanting to delay the inevitable. Still, Dev could only delay them for so long and all too soon, the last dish was finished and neatly put away, leaving the kitchen looking as if no one had been there. Dev grabbed Kallus’s hand as they made their way through the halls towards the hanger bay, clinging to him like a lifeline. Kallus gently squeezed his hand, wordlessly trying to reassure him. 

Dev nervously pressed himself against Kallus’s side, the halls far more crowded now that it was later in the morning, the heavier Imperial presence making Dev uncomfortable. It was a painfully short trip to the hanger bay, neither wanting to say goodbye, but Kallus knowing it was his duty to go to Lasan. Those responsible had to be brought to justice, he had to be their when that happened. Knowing that thought didn’t make saying goodbye to Dev any easier however. 

“Kallus! There you are!” Lyste greeted. “I thought I missed you!” 

“No, you’re just in time,” Kallus assured, smiling at him. 

“I see Dev is here as well,” Lyste added, flashing an uncertain smile at him. 

“Why wouldn’t I say goodbye to my dad?” Dev demanded, glaring at Lyste who glanced up at Kallus with a cocked eyebrow. 

“He is my son,” Kallus said with a shrug. 

“I see…well I’m glad you came, most parent’s children don’t come to see them off,” Lyste hurriedly said. 

“Why not?” Dev asked, frowning.

“I couldn’t say,” Lyste admitted, shrugging awkwardly. 

“It doesn’t matter,” Kallus assured, kneeling down in front of Dev, placing his hands on his shoulders. “Now I need you to behave for Lyste for me, okay?”

“I will,” Dev assured. 

“Good,” Kallus said, pulling Dev into a tight hug. “We’ll see each other again very soon, I promise.”

“I know,” Dev mumbled. Kallus pulled away, affectionately ruffling his hair before straightening up and holding out a hand for Lyste to take.

“Thank you for agreeing to watch Dev.”

“Anything for a friend,” Lyste assured, taking Kallus’s hand and shaking it. “Be safe.”

“I will be,” Kallus assured, flashing Lyste a smile. 

“See you soon,” Lyste said, releasing Kallus’s hand, lowering it to wrap an arm around Dev’s shoulders. Dev timidly waved at Kallus, close to tears. He found himself both desperately wanting to look away and wanting to run back and not board the shuttle. But he had to it was his duty, so why did it hurt so much to go? Forcing himself to turn away, Kallus quickly boarded the shuttle and didn’t look back as the doors shut behind him.

Kallus felt the shuttle lurch as it took off to take them to the Star Destroyer that would take them to Lasan. Once in Hyperspace it would take approximately nineteen hours to reach Lasan. All he could do now was wait. 

\-----

Dev miserably watched as the shuttle slowly flew away, taking Kallus away from him, leaving him behind once again. He wanted to cry, but he knew Kallus would be so disappointed if he cried, so he clenched his fists and resisted the urge, focusing on the knowledge that he’d be home soon. He would come back, this wasn’t forever. 

“Come along Dev,” Lyste said. “We should be moving along now.”

“Okay…” Dev mumbled, reluctantly following Lyste out.

“So….what do you and Kallus usually do right about now?” Lyste awkwardly asked as they walked through the halls. Dev shrugged but didn’t answer. Dev usually just followed Kallus where ever he went, he assumed that would be the same with Lyste. “Well… I suppose you’ll be with me all day, does that sound alright to you?”

“Fine,” Dev mumbled, staring at the ground. If Dev was honest with himself, he was terrified of being alone so soon, what if he slipped up and said something he shouldn’t and he got caught? With Kallus gone he wouldn’t be able to help him get out of trouble. Dev wrapped his arms around himself, trying to hide his shaking. 

If they noticed he looked afraid, they would realize he was up to something and they would look closer at him. If they looked closer they might find out the truth-

“Dev are you alright?” Lyste gently asked, kneeling down so he was eye level with him. 

“Fine…” Dev mumbled, unable to look him in the eye. 

“Dev you can talk to me,” Lyste gently said, resting a hand on Dev’s shoulder and squeezing it. 

“I don’t need to talk.” Dev mumbled.

“You don’t have to be afraid,” Lyste whispered.

“I’m not afraid,” Dev said. 

“You have every right to be scared Ezra,” Lyste whispered, Dev tensing. 

“I’m no-“

“I helped Kallus with all of this,” Lyste hurriedly said. “I will not let anything happen to you while Kallus is gone I promise.” Dev stared at Lyste with wide eyes, trying to figure out if he was telling the truth or not. Either way though he knew his secret so the only thing he could do for now was go along with him and hope he was telling the truth.

“Okay,” Dev mumbled. Lyste smiled and held out his hand for Dev to take. Dev hesitated to take it before reluctantly grabbing it, tightly clinging onto it. He hated feeling so alone, hated feeling so vulnerable. Dev wasn’t completely sure he fully trusted Lyste, but he needed someone who was on his side. Lyste gently squeezed it back, flashing him a small smile. 

“Will you be okay sitting with me through my meetings?” Lyste asked. 

“I guess I have to be,” Dev said, shrugging. 

“I suppose yes that’s true,” Lyste agreed. “I hope you won’t be too bored at least.” Dev shrugged as Lyste led him through the halls.

“I see you have a new shadow,” Briggs said, startling Dev. 

“For a few days while Kallus is on a mission yes,” Lyste said, tugging Dev closer to his side, not that Dev needed any encouraging. 

“I hope his brat has learned a few manners,” Briggs said, leering at Dev. 

“Are you referring to yourself or Dev?” Lyste asked with a smirk. 

“How dare you!” Briggs growled. 

“You asked,” Lyste said, stepping around Briggs, gently tugging Dev’s hand to pull him along. “Now I’m late for a very important meeting with the adults, hopefully someday you’ll be invited with us.” Lyste added as he marched past, leaving Briggs fuming behind them.

“I’m…not an adult though,” Dev mumbled. 

“That’s what makes it so funny,” Lyste explained, making Dev giggle. 

“Won’t he be angry with you?”

“Oh he is, but there’s not much he can do,” Lyste assured. 

“Are you sure?” Dev nervously asked. 

“Positive, don’t worry about him alright?”

“Alright…” Dev reluctantly agreed, hovering close to Lyste’s side as they entered a large room   
with dozens of people Dev had never seen before. Thankfully they all paid him little mind, only addressing Lyste before starting the meeting. Initially Dev tried to pay attention to what was being said in an effort to stave off boredom, but very quickly he found himself getting bored listen to the old men drone on and on about things he cared very little about. 

Between the boring topics, and lack of sleep the night before, Dev found himself drifting off to sleep. His eyes grew heavier by the minute, body slowly slumping forward…no he needed to stay awake, it would be rude if he feel asleep and they’d be angry at him for falling asleep. But he was so tired…

“Dev,” Lyste whispered, gently shaking him. 

“I wasn’t sleeping!” Dev whispered, eyes wide in terror. 

“Of course not,” Lyste agreed with a smirk. “The meeting is over though.”

“Oh….” Dev mumbled. Had he fallen asleep and not realized it? 

“Come on, I bet you could use some good food,” Lyste said, standing up. 

“Okay….” Dev mumbled, standing up as well. 

“Would you rather stay in your room for the rest of the day?” Lyste gently asked, “I have several more meetings that may bore you to death.” 

“There’s nothing to do in my room,” Dev mumbled. “I might as well stay with you.” Besides being alone in his room suddenly seemed far more frightening then going around with Lyste all day, if he stayed in his room there would be no one there to help if someone tried to take him away. 

“I see….” Lyste uncertainly said. “Whatever you’re more comfortable with.” He wanted Kallus to be back home and safe with him- he was the only one Dev knew he could completely trust, without him he was lost and scared, just like when his parents were taken away. No matter how hard he wished though, Kallus wouldn’t come home until his mission was done, so all he could do was wait.


	8. Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kallus's mission on Lasan takes a turn for the worst, and Kallus finds himself more then ever questioning his loyalties.

_It was a planet unlike anything Dev had seen before, thick vegetation surrounded him, adorned with stunning purple leaves. Before him, stood a magnificent castle that towered above him, the sun shining down on it, bathing it and the surrounding forest in a golden light. Suddenly, the castle was cast in shadow, the sun blocked out by a massive ship._

_In the blink of an eye Dev found himself standing in some sort of courtyard, most likely one within the castle walls, facing a species Dev had never seen before. He, or Dev assumed was he, stood at least 6 feet tall, his body light purple with dark purple stripes and bright green eyes._

_“Where is Captain Orrelios,” Kallus called out, keeping Dev from inspecting the strange person any longer. Kallus was here on this strange planet with him? No…he wasn’t on this planet, but maybe Kallus actually was? But how was he seeing what was happening around Kallus if he was thousands of lightyears away?_

_“Why would I tell you Imperial Scum?” The strange man demanded._

_“Why must you Lasat be so stubborn,” Kallus grumbled. Lasat, was that the name of his species? “One of his men committed a crime against the Empire and they must be brought to justice!”_

_“Lies!” The Lasat cried, grabbing what appeared to be some sort of staff, extending it, electricity sparking from both ends of the weapon. Kallus pulled out a slightly different staff, carefully changing his stance, watching the Lasat with a calm expression. With a rage filled roar, the Lasat charged at Kallus, swinging his weapon at Kallus who ducked under the blow, quickly jabbing at the Lasat’s exposed side before quickly moving out of the Lasat’s reach. “A guardsmen would never do such a thing!”_

_“I was their!” Kallus cried. “I watched him cut down my men who were injured! Defenseless!”_

_“Lies!” The Lasat roared, swinging down at Kallus who dove out of the way, rolling to his feet before swinging at the Lasat. Their weapons clashed, the lasat shoving Kallus down. Kallus swung his staff at the Lasat’s feet, knocking him to the ground and quickly rolled back to his feet. The Lasat however quickly got back to his feet, swinging at Kallus with a roar of pure rage._

_The Lasat and Kallus continued exchanging blows faster than Dev could keep up, Kallus would be on the ground but then with a few quick movements he’d be on his feet, knocking the Lasat to the ground and hitting him hard before the Lasat was on his feet again until Kallus delivered a heavy enough blow that the Lasat couldn’t get up from. Kallus glared down at the Lasat for a moment before his knees gave on and he fell forward, kneeling on the ground in front of the Lasat._

_“Where is Captain Orrelios?” Kallus gasped, glaring at the Lasat who lay on the ground, gasping, weakly clutching his bleeding wounds._

_“You are a worthy opponent,” the Lasat whispered, shoving his weapon into Kallus’s hands before muttering something in a language Dev had never heard before._

_“I don’t understand-“ Kallus said, glancing at the weapon in confusion and back up at the Lasat. “Why are you giving this to me?”_

_“You have honor, and I can die with honor,” He gasped before his eyes slid shut, releasing one final shuttering breath._

_“Honor?” Kallus whispered, staring at the weapon in his hands in confusion. An eerie silence fell over the battlefield, the few Lasat who had watched the fight not moving or speaking, until with a loud blast, the great castle exploded, sending everyone in the courtyard flying-_

_“DAD!”_ Dev gasped, sitting up in his bed in his room on Lothal. Heart racing, Dev scrambled out of bed, terrified for his dad’s safety. He had to find a way to contact him, to assure himself that this was just some nightmare and not what had really happened. As much as he tried to tell himself it was only a dream, it had all felt so real like he’d been on that strange planet beside Kallus-

“Dev, is everything alright?” Lyste worriedly asked, opening the door before Dev reached it.

“No!” Dev cried, tears prickling the corners of his eyes. “Dad’s in trouble!” 

“What are you talking about?” Lyste asked, a hint of worry reaching his tone.

“I-I saw him fight this big alien- a-a Lasat he said a-and he won but then the castle exploded and he was with all those other Lasat’s and-“

“Dev, take a deep breath,” Lyste said, kneeling down so he was eye level with Dev. “How did you see this?”

“I-I saw it while I was asleep bu-“

“It was just a dream Dev,” Lyste gently said, laying his hands on Dev’s shoulders and gently squeezing them, trying to reassure him, but the gesture only made Dev angry. Why wouldn’t he listen? His dad was in trouble! He needed them!

“It wasn’t a dream though!” Dev cried, yanking away from Lyste’s touch. “dad is in trouble!”

“Alright, why don’t we go and try and talk to Kallus and get this all sorted out?” Lyste gently said. Dev glared at Lyste but nodded his head, a part of him hoping Lyste was right, but another sure he wasn’t. Either way, he seemed to have finally got Lyste’s attention as they calmly made their way through the nearly empty halls. Why was he going so slow? They had to hurry! 

Frustrated with Lyste’s lack of urgency, Dev grabbed Lyste’s hand and angrily started to tug him along, trying to get him to move faster but failed, partially due to how much bigger Lyste was then him, but mostly because he had no idea where they were going. Lyste however, eventually picked up the pace a bit with a sigh, leading Dev through the halls with ease. Finally they reached what Dev assumed was their destination but was stopped by a pair of Stormtroopers.

“He is not authorized to enter this room.”

“He’s with me and wishes to send a message to his father,” Lyste explained. The troopers uncertainly glanced at each other, both unwilling to respond. “Of course I could just wait and explain to Kallus when he returns that his son was forced to wait in distress for who knows how long until he returns planet side.” Still uncertain, the troopers stepped out of their path, apparently afraid of incurring his dad’s wrath. The room they entered was fairly deserted, with only a few Imperials silently working at their consoles. Dev looked around the room curiously, staring at the strange consoles and equipment inside the room. Lyste confidently walked up to one of the consoles and started typing in something, stepping back when he finished, waiting patiently for something. 

After what felt like an eternity to Dev but was only about a minute in reality, a holo of a man appeared who glared at Lyste and asked, “What is the meaning of this?”

“I apologize Admiral Konstantine but young Dev here wanted to speak with Kallus-“

“He’s busy,” the Konstantine snapped, “And this is a terrible time to call we’re in the middle of a battle!”

“A battle?” Lyste gasped. 

“These beasts started attacking our squads!” Konstantine snapped. “And we are now under siege so I don’t have time for silly children and their nightmares!”

“Of course Admiral-“

“Do not call again!” He snapped, his holo vanishing. 

“Is dad going to be okay?” Dev asked in a small voice. 

“Kallus can take care of himself, he’ll be just fine,” Lyste gently assured, wrapping an arm around Dev’s shoulders. 

\-----

In a matter of seconds, everything had gone to hell. Seconds after getting thrown off his feet, Kallus was up again, forced to fight off half a dozen rightfully enraged Lasat Honor Guardsmen. It had been difficult fighting off one Lasat, this fight was even harder with his injuries and the sheer number he was dealing with. Thankfully, reinforcements quickly came to his aid allowed them to take down the Lasat. The whole thing felt so wrong. Why had the palace been blown up? Did Tarkin want to be forced to kill all the Guardsmen in the palace? Would the Empire still have done this even if they had given the Lasat up? If he where honest with himself, Kallus couldn’t say for sure. As they made their way through the ruins, Kallus tried not to think about the bodies he left behind. Those Lasat would still be alive if the Palace hadn’t been destroyed…

Less than a month ago, Kallus would have believed the Empire had a good reason for an unprovoked attack of Lasan without a second thought, but after meeting Ezra, Kallus wasn’t so sure anymore. Would a good and just government sentence a child to death for their parent’s crimes? Would they bomb the castle for the actions of one Lasat? He didn’t think it was right to do such a thing- now wasn’t the time to think about such things, now he had to focus on surviving this failure of a mission and find out why this was all happening. 

A part of Kallus hoped this was all just some horrible mistake, the actions of a corrupt high ranking officer and not the will of the Emperor, deep down though Kallus was certain that it wasn’t true. First Dev, now this. How many other horrific slaughters where the result of a cruel Empire that he had so blindly trusted before? 

Ignoring the feeling of dread, Kallus made his way through the debris of the castle in the courtyard to the village in the hopes of trying to help calm the inevitable chaos. In the village however he didn’t just find chaos, he found a slaughterhouse. The troopers in the village where using ion disrupters, taking down everyone in their paths whether or not they were soldiers or even adults. Man, woman, and children where brutally slaughtered without a second thought. Civilians brutally killed in the name of ‘justice’. How was this just? What good did killing civilians do? Kallus knew he couldn’t just idily stand by and let this mindless slaughter happen, but his body was frozen, unable to tear his gaze away from the violent slaughter before him.

He wanted to run onto the nearest shuttle and fly far away from Lasan, from the Empire, from death, back to Dev. He wanted to hold Dev tightly in his arms and know he was safe from the Empire’s cruel gaze and tyranny. To forget about this living nightmare and pretend none of this ever happened. There was no undoing this, no bringing back the innocent slaughtered here. There was no unseeing what he witnessed, nothing that could cleanse the Empire’s hands of this. 

He had constantly told himself it was best for Dev if he stayed with the Empire, the Empire tends to ignore the questionable acts of their loyal soldiers, but how could he even think of raising a child in such a place? The Empire slaughtered innocent people without second thought, their thousands of soldiers blindly following orders, some gleefully following said orders. How could he morally expose an innocent child to the mindless slaughter? He hated the Rebellion and everything they stood for, but standing in the mist of the Empire’s cruel bloodshed, Kallus hated them even more. 

He had no idea where they would go, but one thing was clear, Kallus couldn’t stay here any longer, not when they slaughtered children like this, not when he was fostering a child wanted by the Empire. No, he was done with the Empire and everything it stood for. Once he returned to Lothal, he was taking Dev and getting as far away as possible where Dev would be safe and never have to see the mindless bloodshed again. Kallus knew of some worlds deep in wild space the Empire would never go they could disappear on. It wouldn’t be easy since most of his skill sets where not useful to civilians, but he would find a way. 

Through the chaos and screaming, Kallus heard the cries of children, springing his paralyzed body into action. Kallus’s eyes landed on three young Lasats running away from a trooper wielding an Ion Disruptor and for a terrifying moment, he saw Dev with the three children, running, screaming in terror.

“No!” Kallus shouted, throwing himself in front of the trooper, using the bo-rifle gifted to him to knock the disruptor from the troopers hands, blocking the trooper. 

“What are you doing?” The trooper demanded. 

“Stopping you from slaughtering innocent children!” Kallus snapped. “Our orders where to find the Lasat responsible! Not slaughter them all!”

“We were ordered to eliminate the Lasats!” the trooper cried. “Besides these beasts are getting what they deserve!”

“Ordered?” Kallus cried. “Who ordered this?”

“Grand Moff Tarkin,” The trooper said. Kallus shouldn’t have been surprised to hear this, Tarkin had made his disdain for the Lasat very clear in their meeting, but another part still couldn’t believe anyone could order something so vile and heartless. 

“How can you go along with this?” Kallus cried, “This is wrong and you know it!” 

“How could you of all people defend these beasts?” The trooper exclaimed. 

“That was one Lasat!” Kallus cried. “You can’t punish them all for this!” 

“Your brats clouding your judgement!” 

“He’s made my vision clearer than ever,” Kallus growled, swiping his bo-rifle at the trooper’s feet, knocking him to the ground. 

“Agent Kallus, stand down!” The captain whose name Kallus never bothered to learn hollered, a half dozen troopers surrounding him, blasters pointed at him. 

“Don’t you see the madness?” Kallus cried, looking around at the troopers that surrounded him. “There’s no justifying this slaughter!” 

“We were given orders,” the captain said. 

“Orders that are wrong!” Kallus said. “Can’t you see that?” Kallus carefully looked around at the trooper’s body language, desperately trying to see any hesitation in any of them. He found none whatsoever. 

“Agent Kallus I am putting you under arrest for high treason! When we return to Lothal you will be put on trial an-“ A blaster bolt hit the captain’s head, killing him instantly, sending the troopers in a frenzy. A giant mass slammed onto the ground in front of Kallus, it’s fist flying, knocking the nearest trooper over. This was a Lasat, Kallus realized as the Lasat slammed two troopers head’s together before throwing their limp bodies at two other troopers. Kallus numbly shot the last trooper, staring at the Lasat in shock. Why would a Lasat help an Imperial agent? 

The Lasat turned to face him, gruffly asking,

“Are you alright?” Kallus though couldn’t answer, mind freezing when he realized who exactly had just saved him, Captain Orrelios.


	9. Captain Orrelios

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kallus and Zeb must work together to escape Lothal and rescue Dev.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in posting this one guys, my best friend flew out to visit so of course I was spending all my time with her! Hope you guys enjoy though!

Kallus couldn’t tear his eyes off of Captain Orrelios’s face, mind struggling to comprehend the fact that Captain Orrelios, a Lasat, had saved him, an Imperial, one of the very people responsible for the slaughter before them. 

“Hey,” Captain Orrelios said, waving his hand in front of Kallus’s face. “You still with me? We have to move.” Kallus had so many questions, but at the moment he didn’t have time to ask them, so he merely nodded at the Captain, praying that this wasn’t some sort of elaborate trap to get Kallus alone to ambush and kill him himself. Of course, if he were meant to die here on this planet, it seemed only right that he die by a Lasats hand and not an Imperials. It would almost be poetic in a sick and twisted way. 

Captain Orrelios expertly led Kallus through the ruins of the castle, the pair careful to avoid detection by the Imperials searching for any surviving Lasat. Kallus had so many questions for him, but he knew it would be stupid for him to stop and ask now, so he continued to silently follow him until they reached somewhere safer; desperately trying not to wonder if anywhere on the planet could be considered safe.

Captain Orrelios carefully but hurriedly led Kallus to the forest; both pointedly ignoring the hundreds of bodies that littered the ground around them, blood soaking the ground beneath their feet. It was a gruesome sight, one that Kallus was sure he would never be able to forget. He tried not to think about Dev who was back on Lothal, and the uncertainty as to what his fate would be. Did Tarkin know Kallus had betrayed the Empire? Was he going after Dev as they walked seemingly aimlessly through the forests on Lasan? What would happen when Kallus didn’t report in? Would they even bother to look or would they hunt him down?

“In here,” Captain Orrelios said, startling Kallus out of his thoughts. Captain Orrelios had shoved aside a large rock to reveal a bunker of some sort. 

“What is this place?” Kallus asked. 

“It’s an emergency bunker where civilians can go in the case of an invasion.” Captain Orrelios explained. “This one is the one closest to the village so I’m assuming this is the first one they would have gone to.”

“Are you sure it’s a good idea to bring me, a former Imperial, down here?” Kallus asked, hesitating in the entryway. 

“You don’t have much of a choice at the moment,” Captain Orrelios gruffly said, gently shoving him past the entry way. “Besides, you’re with me, so no one will hurt you.”

“If you say so….” Kallus muttered as Captain Orrelios pulled the massive stone back to block the entrance. “Doesn’t having a massive stone blocking your way in bother you at all?”

“Not when very few species are strong enough to move it, let alone be curious enough to look.” Captain Orrelios informed him. 

“Fair enough,” Kallus agreed, following Zeb deeper into the bunker. “So what is the plan captain?”

“You can call me Zeb,” Zeb said. “And right now the plan is to see how many lasat made it to the bunkers and find a way to get everyone off planet Agent…?”

“Just Kallus is fine,” Kallus said as they reached the main area of the bunker, giving Zeb pause. 

“Something’s not right….where is everyone?” Zeb asked the empty bunker. 

“Is there another bunker they could have gone to?” Kallus asked. 

“N-no,” Zeb breathed, “No it’s too far t-they never would have made it-“

“I’m so sorry Zeb,” Kallus said, the weight of his involvement in this crushing him.

“No…” Zeb breathed, his knee’s giving out beneath him, hitting the floor with a heavy thud.   
“I-I can’t be all that’s left-“

“We can check the other bunkers, try and find survivors-“

“We’d…never make it….” Zeb whispered, an unspoken they could never have made it hanging in the air. Lasan was destroyed, and in the end, it was all his fault. His report was what sent the Empire to Lasan. Right then and their Kallus wanted to tell Zeb everything how the attack on Lasan was all his fault and he should hate him for causing him so much suffering. Didn't Zeb deserve to know? No, at least not now, not like this. Not when their lives depended on working together. 

“Zeb I know this is hard, but we have to get off this planet before the Empire finds us.”

“What’s the point?” Zeb mumbled dejectedly. 

“I can only imagine how hard this must be for you…I remember being crushed after my unit was needlessly slaughtered. I wanted to die…but I found purpose again-“

“Through the Empire,” Zeb grumbled. 

“No,” Kallus corrected. “Through my son.”

“Your son?”

“Yes,” Kallus informed him. “His birth parents were killed by the Empire…he was marked for death but I helped hide him away, took him as my own…he’s why I chose to turn on the Empire today, how I’ve found the strength to move on past the pain my past brings. There is some purpose you have, you just need to have the strength to find it.” 

“I….don’t even know where to begin,” Zeb admitted. 

“Help me rescue my son,” Kallus begged. “I know I’m in no position to ask for your help again but once the Empire realizes I’ve betrayed them they’ll go after him.” Zeb tiredly studied him for a moment before letting out a heavy sigh as he straightened up and asked,

“Alright, what are we going to do?”

“We need to make sure the Empire doesn’t continue to search for either of us so we can more easily got off this planet and back to Lothal.”

“How are we going to do that?” Zeb wearily asked. 

Kallus frowned, thinking hard for a moment before asking, “Does this bunker have any spare clothes?”

\----

Tarkin absentminded scanned the pages of the report on the datapad he was given, only partially interested in the words in front of him. He wanted nothing more than to leave this back water planet and get back to Coruscant, but with several dozen troops still on the ground they couldn’t leave yet. Even if they had all returned, the Emperor wanted them to locate the bodies of those who died in the attack, it would take several hours, maybe a full cycle before all the bodies were found. 

With a frustrated sigh, Tarking continued to flip through the files, pausing when he noticed a report of an arrest of one of their own who was on Lasan. Apparently one of the troopers had started attacking the other troopers during the fighting. The file however failed to mention the name of the trooper. 

Frowning, Tarkin checked to see if the captain had returned to the ship, but found he and seven troopers had been found dead, most likely killed by a Lasat. The beast had been so badly injured he didn’t escape the confrontation, but he had taken down a total of eight people before going down. 

“Good riddance to those beasts,” Admiral Konstantine spat. 

“Yes,” Tarkin agreed, closing the report. “And the sooner we finish accounting for those killed, the sooner we can leave.” 

“Right, yes of course,” Konstantine hurriedly agreed. “I will ensure the troops finish up as quickly as possible.”

“Good,” Tarkinn grumbled, eager to get away from the back water planet. Soon, very soon.


	10. Mr. Muttonchops

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lyste is left to take care of Dev while Kallus is on Lasan and works to find a way to cheer him up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay in posting this chapter. This week has been crazy, I just got a second job which is both exciting and terrifying! Updates may get a little slower but I will finish this never fear! Anyways enjoy the chapter!

Lyste had hoped Dev would relax and finally get some much needed rest as the day progressed. Sadly, it seemed Dev only got more nervous, and sure something terrible had happened to Kallus. Lyste had attempted to explain that it was not uncommon for Kallus to be unable to talk for days during a mission and that he shouldn’t worry. His assurances however fell on deaf ears. He continued to insist that Kallus was ‘in trouble’ because of him. Lyste couldn’t even begin to imagine why Dev believed that, all he knew was he could not get into contact with Kallus and it seemed he would be the only one who could convince Dev that wasn’t the case.

Out of the corner of his eye, Lyste watched Dev as he unenthusiastically shoved his food around on his plate with his fork, heavy bags under his eyes that seemed to physically drag him down. It seemed every time the poor boy started to find some shred of happiness something else happened to drag him back down again. It was painful watching a child go through this, even worse seeing how apathetic to his suffering everyone seemed to be. 

No one could be bothered with the plight of one child, no one understood why Lyste and Kallus cared so much about one child. If Lyste was honest, at first he did this because Kallus wanted to help the boy and he would do anything for Kallus. But then he got to know Dev, started to see how much suffering he went through at the hands of the Empire. Saw how much everyone needlessly suffered while the Empire, while he, turned a blind eye. 

“I’m not hungry,” Dev mumbled, gently pushing the plate away from himself. 

“Alright,” Lyste sighed, noting he’d barely touched his food. Lyste’s datapad beeped, signaling he’d received a message. Confused, Lyste picked up his datapad and opened it, quickly reading over the report. There had been another attack from a group of Rebels at one of their supply caches and he was needed to report in immediately. “It looks like I have to go out to town for important business…will you be alright by yourself in your room?”

“I….guess…” Dev mumbled, clearly looking uncomfortable with it. Though Lyste wouldn’t have minded bringing Dev along, he wasn’t sure how safe it would be for him with Rebels running amuck. Though Lyste had to wonder how safe Dev would really be in an Imperial building. 

The pair silently made their way through the halls, ignoring the annoyed glares thrown their way. They just didn’t understand, why though was beyond Lyste. How could they look at a child and see him as an annoyance? He was a child, what did they expect from him? Lyste opened the door for Dev and said, 

“If you need anything don’t hesitate to comm me.” 

“Okay,” Dev mumbled as he wondered over to his room, the door sliding shut behind him. Lyste shut and locked the main doors to Dev and Kallus’s quarters before making his way to the hanger. Lyste hoped this incident wouldn’t take too long. 

\-----

The marketplace was surprisingly crowded given a rebel attack had recently happened, but he supposed the people still needed to make a living, regardless of the danger to them. Lyste soon found himself extremely grateful most of the stalls where still open. As he fought his way through the crowds, he found himself stumbling into one of the many stalls, which happened to sell an array of plush animals, drawing his attention. Dev had lost everything when his parents were arrested, he might appreciate something soft to cuddle when he was lonely at night…

“Good evening sir I- o-oh!” The stall owner, an elderly Rodian stammered, fear crossing her face at the sight of Lyste. 

“Good evening ma’am,” Lyste said, trying to appear as non-threatening as possible as he examined the array of plush animals, his eyes drawn to a plush Loth Cat. “How much for the Loth Cat?” The poor Rodian, stunned by the question, stammered out a price, wincing in fear. The price was a little higher than expected, but given the state of the Rodians attire, Lyste could only assume to poor owner was desperate for some funds. 

“Here you are,” Lyste said, pulling out the needed credits and handing them to the stunned shop owner. Wordlessly she handed Lyste the plush who tucked it under his arm before nodding his head at her. “Goodnight ma’am.” Hurrying through the market before Aresko and Grint started to wonder where he was. In the grand scheme of things, he realized that buying one plush from a starving citizen wouldn’t help all that much, but every little bit counted he supposed. He just hoped one of the troopers didn’t shut her shop down because she didn’t have the proper permits, he severely doubted most if any of the shop owners held the proper permits to sell, not that those permits where very obtainable….

“Lieutenant Lyste!” Grint bellowed. “What took you so long?”

“I had to drop Dev off before coming here,” Lyste calmly explained, ignoring their snickering when they noticed the stuffed Loth Cat tucked beneath his arm, a part of him regretting not waiting to buy the plush until after he’d finished his business. Nothing he could do about that now. Instead he straightened his shoulders and tried to school his expression to something like Kallus would do when he was cross. 

“You mean Kallus’s brat?” Aresko asked. 

“He’s not a brat, he’s a child,” Lyste snapped. “I would hold your tongue if I was you.”

“Why’s that?” Aresko demanded. 

“Kallus will have your head if he hears you talking about him like that,” Lyste icily said. “And I tell Kallus everything I hear.” 

“He’s hardly my concern,” Aresko scoffed. 

“I’m not afraid of him,” Grint added. 

“You should be,” Lyste mumbled, stepping around them to inspect the Rebels handiwork. Twelve trooper’s dead, three walkers destroyed and all of the weapons destroyed or stolen. They could easily recover from this incident, but Governor Pryce would not be pleased none the less. “We need to increase patrols around other supply caches around the city to ensure more aren’t destroyed by these Rebels.” Lyste declared. 

“Don’t tell me how to do my job,” Aresko snapped. 

“I was summoned here for a reason was I not?” Lyste demanded. 

“We need this cache resupplied as quickly as possible,” Aresko snapped. “That’s all.”

“You could have sent me a message instead of dragging me out here leaving Dev all alone,” Lyste grumbled. 

“Why are you watching that brat?” Grint asked. 

“Isn’t it obvious?” Aresko asked, smirking at Lyste. “It’s the lieutenant’s desperate attempts to gain Kallus’s affections is it not?”

“How dare you!” Lyste snapped, clenching his fists, entire body tense. “Kallus is my friend! I’m just trying to help!”

“Right,” Aresko drawled. “And the looks you give him, purely friendly thoughts about our agent hmm?” Lyste clenched his jaw, desperately trying to bite back a sarcastic remark and he curled into himself. He would be lying if he said he hadn’t thought about what it would be like for Kallus to see him as more than a friend; what it would be like to be held in his arms, their bodies pressed together, their lips touching-

“That is none of your business,” Lyste snapped, glaring at Aresko. 

“No, but your less then innocent intentions towards Kallus are his business are they not?” Aresko asked. “I wonder how he would react to such news?”

“If you’re trying to threaten me, it won’t work,” Lyste declared, squaring his shoulders to make himself look more intimidating then he was, an extremely difficult task given he was quite a bit shorter than the pair and not nearly as well built as Grint. Lyste refused to let that get to him however and met their sneering looks with a glare of his own. 

Aresko’s smirk widened as he said, “If you feel threatened maybe you should reconsider your own actions.”

“Are we going to continue wasting time discussing my personal life or are we going to discuss the Rebel attack,” Lyste said through clenched teeth. 

“As I said before there is nothing to discuss,” Aresko dismissively said. “We just need supplies from you Supply Master.” 

“Fine,” Lyste said, “Send me a list of the supplies lost and I will see to it that you have what you need.” Turning on his heel and marching off. “Try not to get them destroyed again.” He threw over his shoulder with a smirk before continuing back to base. 

\-----

Lyste kept his head held high as he marched through the halls, ignoring the snickering from his coworkers as he walked passed them, instead focusing on what Kallus would do in a situation like this; Lyste took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, held his chin up and scowled like he’d seen Kallus do a thousand times. He imagined himself making his coworkers cower in fear at the mere sight of his scowl, lifting his spirits slightly. He might have once laughed at himself, but that was before he met Dev. Now, he shamelessly marched through the halls with a stuffed Loth Cat in his arms, not even caring what others thought of him. Go on he bitterly thought laugh at the man getting a gift for a traumatized child.

Lyste shoved the angry thoughts out of his mind and focused on the Loth Cat in his arms. Hopefully this would help Dev sleep better at night. Even if it didn’t, he hoped Dev would at least like the toy and maybe help him stave off boredom. It wasn’t much, but perhaps it would be better than nothing. 

With that thought firmly in mind, Lyste knocked on the door to Kallus and Dev’s quarters, waiting for a moment before unlocking the door and stepping inside calling out, “Dev? Are you awake?” Quickly hiding the stuffed animal behind his back as the door to Dev’s room opened. 

“That was fast,” Dev lifelessly said. 

“I wasn’t actually needed apparently,” Lyste said with an over dramatic eye roll. “They just wanted to tell me in person they needed more supplies to replace those they got blown up.” 

“Oh,” Dev said, rolling on the balls of his feet. “Did you need something from me?”

“No,” Lyste said, “I just found something I thought you might like.” 

“Something for me?” Dev asked, curiosity leaking into his voice. 

“Yes,” Lyste admitted, pulling the plush out from behind his back. “See I saw this little guy sitting in a booth looking so sad I thought maybe you might like a new friend and that this little guy would like a new home….what do you think?” 

“For….me?” Dev asked, tentatively reaching out before quickly pulling his hands away. 

“All for you,” Lyste assured, holding the plush out closer for Dev to take. “I figured, he might make a good bedtime companion.”

“Thank you,” Dev said, taking the plush and hugging it against his chest.

“Do you like him?” Lyste tentatively asked. 

“I love him!” Dev exclaimed, awkwardly wrapping his arms around Lyste’s leg while still clutching the stuffed Loth Cat. 

“I’m glad to hear that,” Lyste said as Dev let go of his leg. “Now all he needs is a name….maybe something to remind you of Kallus when he is away so you don’t feel so lonely?” 

“Like what?” Dev asked, glancing at Lyste curiously.

“Well,” Lyste began, kneeling down so he was at eye level with Dev. “I know on one mission the locals of the planet they were visiting hadn’t seen very many humans and had trouble distinguishing them and had an even harder time with their names so they started giving them all nicknames.”

“Even dad?” Dev asked. 

“Oh yea,” Lyste said. “They called him Mr. Muttonchops.” 

“Mr. Muttonchops?” Dev giggled. 

“Yep,” Lyste said. “Kallus was so embarrassed, he wasn’t even the one who told me, one of the boys though made sure everyone knew.”

Dev eagerly held up the Loth Cat and declared, “I shall call you, Mr. Muttonchops! Do you like your new name?” Dev giggled and shook the Loth cat’s head. 

“I think he likes it.” Lyste informed him with a soft chuckle as Dev hugged Mr. Muttonchops to his chest. 

“Can Mr. Muttonchops come with us to dinner?” Dev asked. 

“I don’t see why not,” Lyste said, earning a bright smile from Dev. A chime announcing a visitor rang, momentarily surprising Lyste. Why would a visitor be here? Everyone knew Kallus was on a mission and Dev didn’t exactly have any friends on base. What if they found out who Dev really was…? Swallowing his fear, Lyste pressed the button to open the door, revealing a trooper Lyste didn’t recognize. 

“Agent Kallus is not in at the moment,” Lyste greeted. “But I can take a message-“

“That won’t be necessary,” The trooper said. “I have a message for Dev Morgan.”

“What message?” Lyste asked, blocking Dev from his view. 

“We regret to inform him of Agent Kallus's death,” the trooper coldly informed him.


	11. Falling Apart

Death. The word tauntingly echoed through Lyste’s mind as he struggled to process the word. Kallus couldn’t be dead could he? How could he have survived so much hardship to be killed in such a brutal way? There had to be a mistake, they had the wrong person or something. 

“No, t-there’s no way-” Lyste stammered, mind struggling to process what he was being told. Kallus, dead? No, no, this couldn’t be happening-

“We found his body,” the trooper said. “My condolences for your loss.” 

“Are you absolutely certain?” Lyste asked, aware of how terrifyingly quiet Dev was being. “Did someone identify the body-“

“He was in his armor,” The trooper said. “His face was really messed up by the Lasat-“

“So it’s possible it’s not him!” Lyste fiercely said. 

“I just deliver the message,” the trooper interrupted. “To be honest though….I doubt he survived.” He added before turning and walking away. 

“You promised…” Dev whimpered, clutching Mr. Muttonchops to his chest. “Y-you promised papa would come home.”

“Dev I…I-“ Lyste stammered, his words failing him. Dev needed his comfort, but he had no idea what to say. His own mind was reeling, struggling to process the news. Kallus was dead, gone from his life forever. And Dev, poor sweet Dev, had to suffer through the loss of his parent twice now. 

“Why does the stupid Empire take everyone away?” Dev cried, tears streaming down his face. 

“Dev I-“

“No!” Dev cried, “Leave me alone!” Before turning and running into his room, locking the door behind him. A part of Lyste knew he should go after Dev to comfort him somehow, but another was glad he was now alone so no one would see him cry. With shaking limbs, Lyste let out a weak sob, stumbling into the nearest chair as he completely fell apart. 

Kallus was dead, his only real friend in the galaxy was gone, brutally slaughtered by the monsters on Lasan. Just when he was starting to find a shred of happiness in this cruel, unforgiving Galaxy, he was killed. Worse, Dev, who had already lost his parents, who was finally starting to make peace with what had happened, who started seeing Kallus as a father, had to lose him so cruelly. The wrongness of it all made him sick. Dev didn’t deserve to suffer like this. Why couldn’t there be mercy for him?

What would happen to Dev now? He was once again an orphan, the one person in the Empire he had started to trust brutally killed in service to the Empire that had taken his birth parents away. Lyste couldn’t even begin to imagine the agony Dev was in, losing someone he saw as a father so soon after losing his birth parents. 

Would he get carted off to some orphanage? Or worse, left on the streets, forgotten once again? No, he wouldn’t, not if Lyste had anything to say about it. He knew Dev would never see him as a parental figure, not after all he’d lost. But Lyste would take care of Dev, despite knowing nothing about being a father or raising a child he would do everything he could to keep Dev safe from the Empire. He would leave the Empire if he had to! 

Determination swelled in his chest as he got to his feet, furiously wiping his tears away. Kallus wouldn’t want him to be crying over him, he’d want Lyste to be comforting Dev. If he was going to Dev’s guardian, he needed to focus on what Dev needed, not what he wanted. He wanted to curl up in a ball and cry, but Dev was alone and hurting and needed someone to be strong and comfort him, so Lyste would do just that. 

Lyste walked over to the door and pressed the button to open the door saying, “Dev, it’s me. I….I know you probably d-….Dev where are you?” Lyste frantically looked around the room, not spotting Dev anywhere. “Dev? Dev? Where are you?”

\--------------

“How much longer do we need to wait down here?” Zeb grumbled as he continued to pace back and forth in the bunker.

“If we go out to early we’ll be seen and all of this will be for nothing,” Kallus firmly said from his position on the ground. 

“Karabast I know, I know,” Zeb grumbled. 

“I know waiting is hard Zeb, but I don’t want to risk the Empire finding out I’m alive too early. I don’t know if they know I betrayed the Empire, so we need to act as if they do know to be safe.” Kallus gently explained. “Please Zeb, just wait a little longer.”

“Alright,” Zeb sighed, his ears drooping. “I’m just going stir crazy down here!”

“I am as well,” Kallus admitted. “I’m terrified for my son.”

“Why?” Zeb curiously asked. 

“It’s….a long story,” Kallus sighed. 

“We’ve got time,” Zeb said, sitting down on the cold ground next to Kallus. 

“I….suppose so,” Kallus reluctantly agreed. “I just….I don’t want to put him in danger-“

“What you think I, a Lasat that as far as the Empire is concerned deserves to die will go and tell them something that could hurt your kid?” Zeb asked. 

“I suppose when you put it that way-“ Kallus agreed with a nervous laugh. “A few weeks ago I found a boy in an old communications tower, alone and scared. I found out he was separated from his parents after an attack on the town….his home was destroyed in the attack so he had nowhere to go so I took him in while I looked for his parents only in my search….I discovered the truth about what all happened the night he lost his parents.”

“Was it bad?”

“Terrible.” Kallus sighed. “I discovered the Empire lied about the attacks…they faked the attacks to cover up arrests of Rebel sympathizers.”

“Is that what happened to your sons parents?”

“Yes,” Kallus growled. “They were arrested for treason and their son marked for execution.”

“Executed? Why?”

“I never found out….after I found out I changed his files and his name so the Empire wouldn’t find out who he was.”

“That was brave of you to do,” Zeb gently said.

“It all may have been in vain….” Kallus sighed. 

“What do you mean?”

“If word of my betrayal reached Tarkin, the Empire will take it out on him…everything I did to protect him for nothing….”

Zeb was silent for several moments before he firmly declared, “Then let’s go save him!”

“Wait Zeb-“ Kallus began but Zeb was already walking to the entrance of the bunker, ignoring Kallus’s pleas to wait. Zeb eaerly moved the massive boulder blocking the entrance and stepped out into the forest, Kallus racing to keep up with him. Zeb was built to easily move through the dense forests, unlike Kallus who struggled to make his way through the forest and keep up with Zeb who was slowly moving further and further away from him. “Slow down!”

“Move faster!” Zeb threw over his shoulder as he burst into a clearing near the ruins of the city, entire body tensing. Kallus removed his bo-rifle from his back and charged into the clearing, ready to kill any troopers waiting for them. However instead of troopers, an unfamiliar ship was in the clearing waiting for them. 

“Is that thing Imperial?” Zeb worriedly asked. 

“No,” Kallus said. 

“If it’s not Imperial….then why is it here?”


	12. New Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kallus and Zeb run into unlikely allies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, my two jobs are keeping me super busy lately.

Zeb and Kallus warily pointed their weapons at the ship as the ramp slowly lowered, waiting for an attack from the passengers of the ship, Kallus praying everything they had done wouldn’t be in vain now. All he could think about was Dev, alone on Lothal, certain he was dead, fueling his desire to get back to Lothal, regardless of the cost. As the ramp lowered, it revealed two passengers, a human male and a female twi’lek. The pair had their weapons drawn, wearily surveying the landscape.

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” Zeb bellowed, rage filling his voice, watching the attention of the two newcomers. 

“We heard the Empire was coming here so we came in case it was an attack,” The twi’lek quickly explained, looking around with a pained expression on her face at all the destruction around them. “It seems we were too late though….”

“Yea, you were,” Zeb growled, keeping his bo-rifle aimed at the pair, entire body tense, ready to snap. 

“We can still help any Lasat who survived the attack-” The twi’lek continued. 

“How do we know you won’t just finish them off?” Zeb growled, glaring at the strangers. Though Kallus knew there weren’t any living Lasat left besides Zeb, he couldn’t help but agree with Zeb. It was a little too coincidental that they arrived so shortly after Lasan was destroyed. 

“We’re not with the Empire,” The Twi’lek assured. 

“Definitely not,” the human agreed. “We do everything in our power to hurt the Empire every chance we get.”

“Anyone can say that to try and get us to trust them,” Zeb argued, his finger twitching, ready to start shooting them. 

“If we were really trying to hurt you, don’t you think we would have done it by now?” the human asked. 

“Not if you thought you could trick us into leading you to the other survivors so you could take them out as well,” Kallus said, keeping his weapon aimed at the man. A part of him was tempted to stun the pair so he could steal their ship so he could get to Lothal faster but immediately pushed the thought away. He doubted Zeb would approve of that; and the thought of shooting potentially innocent people made him sick. He’d force himself to wait, if they intended to harm Zeb or his people, Kallus doubted he’d mind if he attacked them and took their ship.  
“We would ne-“

“It doesn’t matter either way!” Zeb almost hysterically cried. “They’re all gone!”

“Gone?” The woman echoed. 

“The Empire killed them all!” Zeb cried, letting his weapon fall to the ground. “I-I failed them all- so if you’re going to kill me, just do it!”

“We aren’t going to kill you,” the woman assured. ”We came to help if we can.”

“…there’s nothing you can do here.” Zeb mumbled, ears dropping. 

“We can help you though,” The woman offered. “The Empire will hunt you down because you’re a Lasat.” He wanted to beg the woman to take him to Lothal, or even threaten her if needed, but looking at Zeb, he felt it would be cruel to try something like that when he was so vulnerable. He needed to snap Zeb out of his depression so they could get moving again. They didn’t have time for this-

“…it’s what I deserve,” Zeb mumbled.

“Neither you, nor your people deserved any of this.” The woman gently said. 

“I failed them all,” Zeb whispered.

“What happened isn’t your fault.” The man said. “It’s the Empire’s.”

“I should have protected them better!” Zeb shouted.

“You couldn’t have stopped the Empire,” Kallus gently said. “You would have died with them.”

“…Maybe I should have.”

“No,” Kallus firmly said. “No one deserves what happened here. Besides….if you died, I would be dead and if I was dead, there would be no one left to help my son, you’re already helping two lives…maybe there’s a reason you survived.”

“What….like fate or something?” Zeb incredulously asked. 

“Maybe,” Kallus agreed. “All I know for sure is you’ve been blessed with a second chance, don’t let it go to waste. You’ll regret letting all that time slip away not doing anything. If not for yourself, then for the one’s you’ve lost. They’d want you to keep going.” Zeb carefully studied Kallus, mulling over his words until he sighed and agreed. 

“I suppose you have a point…”

“Good,” Kallus agreed, turning back to face the pair. “I don’t have anyway to pay you but-“

“Is your son in some sort of danger?” the woman asked. 

“Yes,” Kallus said. “I…used to be an ISB agent until….this happened,” Kallus began, gesturing to the still burning city. “We tricked them into thinking I died here but my son is still trapped there and I can’t just leave him behind. If you would be willing to take me to Lothal it would be greatly appreciated.”

“And what leave you to rescue him and got off the planet by yourself?” The woman asked.

“I can’t ask anyone else to risk their lives to help save him,” Kallus said. 

“And I can’t let you go on a suicide mission,” the woman said. “We’re going to help you rescue your son.”

“You only just met me and I worked for the Empire!”

“All true, but there’s a child in danger, and that is something I can’t ignore.” The woman declared. “What planet is he on?” Kallus considered arguing that even with two other people helping it would still be a suicide mission, but arguing would only waste valuable time they didn’t have so instead he answered,

”Lothal.” 

“Alright, we head for Lothal,” the woman said. “My name’s Hera and this is Kanan.”

“Garazeb but most people call-called me Zeb,”

“Kallus,” Kallus informed them.

“Come on, we have to save your son,” Hera informed him.

 

\-------

A part of Lyste knew asking Konstantine for help was a waste of time, but Lyste was desperate. Dev was alone on the streets somewhere in danger of being discovered and killed. Lyste had to do something

“No Lyste we cannot waste valuable resources looking for an orphan!” Konstantine snapped, glaring down at Lyste. 

“But he’s a child-“

“One who ran away,” Konstantine interrupted. “He can deal with the consequences of that choice.” 

“He’s a young boy who’s lost and scared and just lost his father-“

“As much as Kallus pretended to be his father, he was not,” Konstantine icily informed him.

“He adopted Dev so that makes Dev his son!” Lyste exclaimed. “And as such-“

“The official paperwork had not finished processing before Kallus’s death so no, he never adopted him therefore Dev is not his son and any point you were going to make would be invalid.”

“….what?” Lyste gasped. 

“You heard me,” Konstantine said. “This Dev has no claim to any of Kallus’s assets-“

“Is the only thing you care about credits?” Lyste cried. “There is a child who needs help-”

“He shouldn’t have run away then,” Konstantine said. 

“Would he have even gotten help if he’d stayed?” Lyste growled. Konstantine’s expression hardened as he leaned forward to whisper,

“I would watch your tone lieutenant.”

“Kallus asked me to care for Dev if anything where to happen to him,” Lyste loudly declared. “And that is what I intend to do!”

“What you want to adopt that Lothrat?” Konstantine laughed. 

“Yes,” Lyste said, squaring his shoulders as he looked Konstantine in the eye. He needed to be brave and not show any fear. Just like Kallus would.

“Fine, if you want to look for him on your own time that’s none of my business,” Konstantine said, turning to head back out of the room “I doubt you’ll find him though.”

“We’ll see about that,” Lyste growled through clenched teeth. He would find Dev no matter what. For Kallus.


	13. Breaking and Entering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kallus must sneak into the Imperial Complex to rescue Dev before it's too late.

Kallus knew down to the exact minute how long it would take to reach Lothal, it didn’t help make the time go by any faster. In fact, if anything it seemed to make time go slower. He was slowly losing his mind as he waited for the ship to finally reach Lothal. He tried to focus on coming up with a plan to get Dev out but he found himself having trouble focusing on coming up with a plan. With a heavy sigh Kallus leaned back and shut his eyes, trying to focus on calming himself down so he could focus. 

“So…got any plans?” Zeb asked. 

“No,” Kallus admitted with a heavy sigh, opening his eyes. “I’m honestly too worried to think properly.”

“Well it’s a good thing we’re here then,” Kanan said from his seat. All four where sitting in the cockpit as Hera flew the ship. 

“Says the man who just flew down on a planet possibly under siege by the Empire,” Kallus deadpanned. 

“The Empire wasn’t their when we arrived,” Kanan said. 

“You didn’t know that when you left for Lasan,” Kallus said. 

Kanan frowned but didn’t comment on that and instead said, “Well either way we’re going to need to come up with a plan if we’re going to infiltrate an Imperial facility.”

“If we can get our hands on a Stormtrooper’s armor I can sneak-“

“We,” Kanan corrected. 

“What?” Kallus asked, confusion written across his face. 

“I am not letting you go in alone,” Hera firmly said.

“I’m a trained ISB agent I think I can handle myself,” Kallus said. “Besides I know protocol an-“

“You’re too emotionally invested in this,” Hera said. “You need someone with you incase things go south.”

“Fine,” Kallus reluctantly agreed. “Just keep your mouth shut and do exactly as I say, if we get caught there’s no way we’ll get out of their alive.”

“Alright we’ll do it your way, for now.” Kanan said. 

“Good,” Kallus said. “So first we’ll need to steal some armor so we can sneak in and get to my room where hopefully Dev will be.”

“What if he isn’t their?” Kanan asked. 

“Then he’ll be with Lyste-“

“Who is Lyste?” Hera asked. 

“A friend,” Kallus said. “He knows the Empire’s after him and would keep him safe but….I don’t think it’s right to raise him in the Empire…not after….” Kallus let out a heavy sigh. 

“We don’t have time to feel sorry for ourselves,” Zeb said, “we’ve got a kid to rescue.”

“Zeb, there’s something you need to know-“

“No,” Zeb said. “I know you’re blaming yourself for what happened and I don’t want to hear it.”

“Zeb you don’t understa-“

“You two should hash this out later, we’ve reached Lothal,” Hera informed them. 

“Right,” Zeb agreed. “Let’s go get some Stormtrooper armor.”

\------

Hera dropped Kanan and Kallus just outside the capitol so the pair could quietly slip into the city. It was strange for him having to sneak through the town like this, he was used to being able to go where ever he pleased without having to hide in the shadows like a criminal. In the eyes of the Empire though he was a criminal. If he was seen- Kallus didn’t want to think about it, he needed to focus on finding Dev and getting him as far away from Lothal as possible. 

Things would never be the same for either of them, they would have to go into hiding, change their names, and vanish deep into wild space. It wouldn’t be easy, but he would do it to keep Dev safe. He was worth it all.

With Kallus’s knowledge of patrol patters, the pair where able to easily slip into the city unnoticed, he should have been concerned with how easy it was, but since he technically no longer worker for the Empire, he found he couldn’t bring himself to care. Though he knew they reached the capitol fairly quickly, to him it felt like it took an eternity to get there. Dev thought he was dead, Dev was probably lost and terrified and needed him. 

Kallus forced the thoughts out of his mind as they drew close to the Imperial Complex, they needed to focus.

“Alright, once we get some Stormtrooper armor, we’ll be able to just walk inside.” Kallus said. 

“Okay but where will we get that armor?” Kanan asked. 

“Ambush a patrol,” Kallus said. 

“Okay how will we do that?” 

“I know the patrols and know a good spot to ambush a pair,” Kallus said. “When we take them out we can continue the patrol like nothing happened.”

“And where will we ambush them?”

“Right here.” Kallus said, “The patrol will come through any minute now.”

“So we need to quickly take them out and take their places and walk inside.” Kanan repeated. 

“Exactly.”

“Since the Empire most likely thinks you’re dead, maybe you should let me take care of the Stormtroopers-“

“Why?” Kallus asked. 

“If the Empire thinks you’re dead they won’t come looking for you,” Kanan explained. 

“Good point.” Kallus agreed. 

“There they are,” Kanan whispered, the pair ducking behind a pair of crates. “Wait here.”

“Where else would I go?” Kallus asked, body tense.

“Be right back,” was all Kanan said. Kallus rolled his eyes but stayed hidden as Kanan jumped out and grabbed one of the troopers, slamming his head into the wall. The other trooper aimed his blaster at Kanan, before he could shoot, Kallus tackled him to the ground, grabbed his blaster and shot him before he could get a good look at Kallus. 

“Thanks,” Kanan said. 

“Don’t thank me yet,” Kallus said, picking up the helmet, “Now’s the hard part.”

\-----

Kallus knew they had to move quickly to avoid suspicion. If they did not return to headquarters right on time they would be questioned and if they were questioned they would most likely be immediately discovered and killed and they wouldn’t be able to save Dev. Kallus and Kanan quickly hid the bodies of the storm troopers and put on their armor before hurrying to the entrance of the Imperial Complex, praying they weren’t too late.

“You’re late,” Was the first thing the guards said as they approached the gate.

“You can blame him,” Kanan said, pointing his blaster towards Kallus, Kallus glaring at him. What was he thinking? “This numbskull thought he saw Rebels or something and decided we should go chase them down.”

“Without backup?” the other guard incredulously asked. 

“That’s what I said!” Kanan continued. “He insisted though there wasn’t time!”

“There wasn’t,” Kallus growled, forcing himself to use his old wild space accent. “They were getting away!”

“No one was there,” Kanan groaned. 

“So you say-“

“Enough!” The trooper snapped. “Just don’t let it happen again alright?”

“We won’t sir,” Kanan assured. 

“Good, now get moving,” The trooper groaned. 

“Yes sir,” Kanan said, stepping inside, Kallus following. He wanted to rip Kanan a new one for doing something so stupid but held his tongue. Not here where someone could overhear them and ruin everything. Seething, Kallus led Kanan to the correct lift and stepped inside, Kanan following. Once the doors where safely shut Kallus turned on him and growled, 

“What were you thinking?” 

“It worked didn’t it?” Kanan said. 

“What if it didn’t?” Kallus snapped. “What would you have done then?”

“I would have winged it and-“

“Wing it?” Kallus echoed. “Winging it won-“ Kallus cut himself off as they reached the level and the door opened. “Just follow me.” 

“Yes sir,” Kanan mockingly said, Kallus huffed but didn’t comment on the tone. Kallus wanted to run through the halls to his quarters, but heled back, they needed to look like they belonged to avoid raising suspicion. Though the halls where empty, he didn’t want to take the risk of being seen. 

“Almost their….” Kallus mumbled to himself, as they walked through familiar halls. He was almost there, Dev would be safe with him again soon, he just needed to remain calm and keep walking.

The pair rounded the next corner, finally making it to the hall where his room was. Kallus hurried to the door of his room opening the door and stepping inside, shutting the door behind Kanan before ripping off his helmet and calling out, “Dev? Dev? Are you in here? It’s me!” The only response he got however was silence. Worried, Kallus ran over to Dev’s room and opened the door, frantically looking around, “Dev? Dev? Dev answer me!”

“I don’t think he’s here….” Kanan said from the entrance. 

“That means he’s with Lyste,” Kallus groaned. Their mission just got a lot harder.

“What are you doing in here?” A voice asked from the doorway, the pair whirling around to face Lyste. “Who a- K-Kallus?”


	14. Lost and Afraid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry for the massive delay in updating. I got a new job at a bakery and for the past few months I've been working an insane amount of hours. But since January is usually super slow updates should happen more often now. Anyways enjoy!

“Lyste I can-“ Kallus frantically began, but before he could finish Kanan charged him swinging and knocking him to the ground. 

“Kanan no he’s a friend!” Kallus cried. “He knows about Dev!”

“You should have started with that,” Kanan grumbled as Kallus ran over and kneeled down next to Lyste who stared up at him, groaning in pain. 

“Lyste are you alright?” Kallus asked. 

“I thought we were friends,” Lyste groaned. Kallus chuckled and helped pull Lyste to his feet saying, 

“Sorry but we need to get Dev and get out of here, where is he?” Kallus hurriedly asked. 

“Kallus…he’s….gone,” Lyste said, unable to look him in the eye. 

“Gone- what do you mean gone?” Kallus demanded, heart hammering in his chest. 

“He ran away,” Lyste said. “After we got the news of your supposed death he locked himself in his room and when I went to check on him he was gone.” Everything went numb as the words processed in his mind. Dev had run away and was now defenseless and certain he was dead. Why would he run away? Did he know how dangerous it was for him? If anyone found out who he really was, he’d be killed without hesitation. 

Even if Dev’s true identity was never discovered, that didn’t take away the danger of a young child living on the streets alone. Winters where extremely cold, it was nearly impossible to get a regular supply of food, not to mention the scum who lived in the shadows, preying on the innocent and truly desperate. If they didn’t find him soon, they would more likely find his body. 

“We have to find him, quickly!” Kallus cried, anxiously pacing across the room. the last time he’d felt such terror was back on Onderon as he helplessly watched his men get slaughtered before his eyes….this time though he wasn’t helpless, he could do something this time. He refused to let anyone else he loved die. He’d lost too many people already.

When his men were killed, he’d promised himself he’d never let himself get attached to anyone ever again, but then Dev came along and ruined it all; and he’d never been happier for it. Dev had brought light into his dark world, brought joy and happiness into his life after he’d been so sure he’d never have it again, he refused to let the Empire take that away from him again. 

He was afraid, terrified even, he refused to let that fear overcome him, he needed to focus on saving Dev. Fear would only slow him down, make him sloppy. 

“Why?” Lyste asked. “I mean why the sudden rush to leave?”

“Did they tell you what happened on Lasan?” Kallus softly asked. 

“…no,” Lyste slowly said. “Did something bad happen?”

“Tarkin…he ordered the destruction of Lasan….ordered every Lasat be killed-“

“Are you sure?” Lyste asked. “I mean would the Empire really-“

“They marked a child for death Lyste!” Kallus snapped. “Does this really surprise you?”

“The Empire has never done these things bef-“

“That we know about!” Kallus said. “The Empire could be just covering all of this up!”

“Do you really think that?” Lyste asked. 

“I don’t know what to think,” Kallus admitted. “Nothing makes sense anymore!”

“You where there, maybe they attacked because the Lasat attacked-“

“No, we attacked, they defended,” Kallus whispered. “I can’t raise Dev in a place like this! We have to leave and get as far away as possible.”

“That will be easy for you both to do since the Empire doesn’t care about an orphan and they think you’re dead…” Lyste sighed. 

“We could find a way to get you out quietly too if you wanted to come with us,” Kallus gently said, imagining what it would be like, the three of them could go to a world far away in the outer rim where there wasn’t much Imperial presence, they could get a small house and raise Dev together- together. He liked the thought of that. They could be a family, together. They could never replace Dev’s parents, but they could do their best to fill in for them.

“N-no!” Lyste stammered. “No I can’t leave. The Empire would know and they’d hunt me down and execute me for treason!” Kallus could only stare at him for several long moments, the thought that Lyste might say no never even crossed his mind. Lyste coming with felt so right, like he belonged with their little family. 

“You’d rather work for an Empire that murders innocent people?” Even if Lyste didn’t want to help raise Dev, why would he work for an Empire that’s done so much harm to so many innocent people? Lyste was a better man then this!

“If they come after me they’ll find you and Dev and kill you both!” Lyste cried. “I can’t let that happen!”

“But-“

“This is my choice Kallus,” Lyste firmly said. “Now go find Dev.”

“Lyste-“ Kallus began, reaching out to Lyste. It wasn’t his job to protect Kallus, he was more than capable of taking care of himself, of Dev. Lyste didn’t need to force himself to stay-

“Kallus come on, we don’t have time for this,” Kanan snapped, grabbing his arm and yanking him back. “He’s made his decision and now we need to go.”

“Goodbye Lyste,” Kallus whispered. 

“Goodbye,” Lyste mumbled, turning away from Kallus. Lyste refusing to come with him, stirred up an emotion inside of him he was painfully unfamiliar with. He wanted to beg Lyste to come with him, to get as far away from the Empire as physically possible, but he knew he couldn’t force Lyste, besides, he had to think of Dev now. Whatever he was feeling for Lyste couldn’t distract him, Lyste had made his decision, he had to respect that decision and move on. Kallus took a deep breath, and shoved the strange emotions deep down. It was almost frighteningly easy to do.

“Come on Kanan, I think I have an idea where Dev may have gone,” Kallus said before turning and walking out the door, not once looking back, unable to see the wistful look Lyste sent over his shoulder at the door as it shut behind the pair. His focus was solely on Dev.

_Don’t worry Dev, I’m coming. ___

__\----------------------_ _

__He’d forgotten how cold it got at night on Lothal. He’d gotten used to the warmth of his new room. Dev had let himself get comfortable in his new life, a mistake he didn’t intend to make again. After the Empire took his birth parents he should have realized they wouldn’t let him be happy with his new family. He could never be happy, never have a family, he knew that now._ _

__It would be better for everyone if he stayed in this cold lifeless tower, alone. Where he couldn’t get close to anyone and get hurt again. He was safer in isolation, you can’t miss anyone if there was no one to miss. But he had people to miss, so many people, why did everyone he loved have to die? His parents, his papa? A few treacherous tears leaked out of the corners of his eyes that he furiously wiped away._ _

__Dev curled up on the cold ground, clutching Mr. Muttonchops to his chest. He knew he should ditch it, it made him think of his dad, both of them, and those where things he didn’t want to remember, but every time he started to toss his, his stomach would twist up painfully and he found he couldn’t do it. Despite telling himself otherwise, he didn’t want to forget Mr. Kallus, he was the first person to be kind to him after his parents died, he’d protected him and shown him love and kindness in a cruel, dark world._ _

__He didn’t know anything about being a parent, but he’d been willing to try, for Dev, a little orphan he’d only met a few weeks earlier. For a moment, he’d made Dev believe that maybe, just maybe the Empire wasn’t as bad as he thought, that maybe their where good people who were looking out for everyone. But only Mr. Kallus and Mr. Lyste had been kind to him, the others were just as bad as his parents had told him. Cruel and uncaring, tossing him out like he was nothing after Mr. Kallus’s death- Dev clutched Mr. Muttonchops close to him, desperately trying to keep the painful memories at bay, but unable too. He didn’t want to be alone in the cold dark tower- he wanted to be in his home with his parents or his new home with his papa in their warm embrace._ _

__Wishing for them back though wouldn’t bring them back- he was all alone now, and he had to accept that. There was no one here to comfort him, and their never would be. He needed to forget his families, both of them, and find a way to move on. He was all alone now, but he would survive. His parents had always said he was strong and could survive anything._ _

_“You’re such a brave boy,” His mother said, running a hand through his hair. “No matter what happens, know we love you, so so much.”_

__

_“We need you to keep being brave for us okay?” His father said. “And always have hope.”_

__

____

__

____He didn’t feel brave, or loved. Had no hope. What was there to hope for? He hoped his parents would come back, but they never would, he hoped he could have a new family with Mr. Kallus, but now he was gone. All he wanted to do was curl up in a corner and cry. He desperately held in the tears though, brave boys didn’t cry, and he would be brave, for his parents and his papa. He wouldn’t cry, and would never let himself love again._ _ _ _

__

____

__


	15. Reunion

Kanan was mercifully quiet as they made their way back out of the building, the last thing Kallus needed was endless questions and risk the wrong person overhearing. Hopefully Kanan realized that and that was why he was keeping his mouth shut. Of course, if that was the case that meant he may very well have to deal with all of those questions in private and he wasn’t sure he was ready to answer those questions. He tried not to think about why he didn’t want to face those questions. 

He knew he needed to focus on finding Dev and make sure he was safe, but his thoughts remained on Lyste. Leaving him with the Empire felt like a death sentence. If anyone found out he helped Kallus- no, he couldn’t think like that. How would they find out? Lyste would never tell, and no one else saw their faces. Still, he couldn’t shake the terror that clung to him; he would never forgive himself if Lyste was killed-

No, he couldn’t think like that. Lyste would be fine- but he was running from the Empire himself for fear of death for both himself and Dev. When Kallus had asked Lyste to come with him, he hadn’t even imagined Lyste would say no. In his mind, there was no other choice; he had no reason to stay with the Empire, and every reason to leave. Logically though Kallus had to admit, his decision made sense. If Lyste suddenly defected shortly after Kallus’s supposed death and Dev running away, people would get suspicious and start looking into it and might discover everything- how they changed Dev and Ezra’s files so they thought Ezra died, how he had survived Lasan- it made sense, but something still painfully gnawed at him.

He wanted Dev and Lyste with him, both of them, safe and far away from the Empire. He wanted them to be together as a family- family. Before meeting Dev, he never thought he wanted a family- but now that’s all he wanted. To keep his family safe, every member, including Lyste. 

“You okay?” Kanan asked, startling him out of his thoughts. He didn’t even remember walking outside. 

“If I say yes, would you even believe me?” Kallus asked. 

“Not a chance.”

“That’s what I thought,” Kallus sighed. “I’m…I’m just surprised Lyste didn’t come with….”

“Surprised?” Kanan asked. 

“Confused,” Kallus said. “I can’t figure out why he’d want to stay with…all this.”

“People have to make their own choices,” Kanan said. “You can’t force someone to do something.”

“Logically I know that,” Kallus said, “I just-“ Kallus let out a heavy sigh, “I need to focus on Dev, I can’t worry about Lyste.”

“Alright,” Kanan thankfully said. “So where would he go?”

“My guess, back to the tower where I first found him.”

“What makes you say that?”

“He went to that tower because at the time he had nowhere else to go. Now he’s back in a situation where he has nowhere to go, he’ll probably go back to something that’s familiar to him.”

“I suppose that makes sense,” Kanan said. 

“We need to hurry though, last time he went there he set off an alarm and I went to investigate.”

“I’ll have Hera come pick us up then.” Kanan said. 

“Thank you….and I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“This is not going at all to plan-“

“Don’t worry, things rarely go according to plan for us,” Kanan dismissively said. 

“Wha- I-I don’t want to know,” Kallus groaned. “Let’s just get to the pickup spot.”

\---------------------

It took every ounce of willpower in his body to not rush after Kallus after he walked out the door and beg him to let him come with. When Kallus asked him to leave the Empire and raise Dev with him, it had been a dream come true. For a shining moment he imagined himself, Dev and Kallus all living together on some planet far, far away from the Empire, happy, free, not worrying if they would survive the day. Happy as a family. 

They’d live in a small house on a planet with a massive forest, where the Empire would never find them. Dev would be able to grow up like a normal child- playing on the floor with Mr. Muttonchops while Kallus cooked a wonderful meal like he loved to do. Lyste would be right beside him and Kallus would lean over to kiss him- 

The moment his mind conjured up the perfect image though, Lyste had to push the daydream away. As much as he longed for that perfect storybook ending, he knew it could never be. Going with Kallus meant defecting from the Empire- and though he wanted to be with Kallus more than anything, he couldn’t put him in danger like that. Kallus was dead, Dev ran away, the Empire wouldn’t look for them. But Lyste? He would be a traitor, they would use every resource at hand to find him. It wouldn’t be if they found him, but a when; he would never forgive himself if because of him, the Empire found Kallus and Dev. 

So, he let Kallus walk away, knowing full well once he left the building, he would never see him again. He would never see Kallus again…the thought hurt, left a gaping hole in his chest that he was certain nothing and no one would ever fill.

\-----

Kallus was stunned by how unsurprised Hera was by the sudden change of plans. No questions about why, she simply asked for the coordinates for the tower which Kallus was able to give her and they were off. 

“So….what happened?” Zeb gently asked as they flew to the tower. 

“Dev ran away according to Lyste-“

“You talked to someone?” Zeb exclaimed. 

“A good friend who knew about Dev,” Kallus clarified. 

“Oh,” Zeb sheepishly said. “So um….if he knows…?”

“He thought it would be better to stay behind,” Kallus stiffly said. “I….disagree but I can’t force him to come with me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“What for?”

“It just seems like you care a lot about him and….you might not see him again,” Zeb said with a shrug.

“Ah…yes…thank you,” Kallus eventually said. “I need to focus on getting Dev back and getting him as far away from the Empire as possible.”

“I promise we’ll do everything in our power to reunite you with Dev,” Hera assured. 

“Thank you,” Kallus said, “It’s far more then I deserve from….anyone. Especially you Zeb.”

“You walked away when the massacre started, that’s the important thing,” Zeb said. 

“No Zeb, the massacre is my fault,” Kallus cried. 

“What?” Zeb asked, Kanan and Hera staring at him in horror. 

“My unit on Onderon that was slaughtered- they were killed by a Lasat a-and I put that in my report-“

“What does a report have to do with what happened on Lasan?” Kanan asked. 

“The mission on Lasan was to only find the Lasat responsible and bring him to justice but everything spiraled out of control-“

“That’s not your fault,” Hera gently said. 

“If I hadn’t filed the report, the Empire never would have gone to Lasan!” Kallus cried. 

“Why would you or anything think filing a report would lead to mass genocide?” Zeb calmly asked. 

“What?” Kallus asked. 

“You heard me,” Zeb said. “Why would you think the Empire would do this because of a stupid report?”

“I…I should have-“

“Should have what exactly?” Zeb asked. “No one would think anyone would do something so horrible but they did, that’s not on you, that’s on them.”

“I just…it feels like theirs something I could have done to stop this-“ Kallus began, cutting himself off. If he’d died with his unit, no report would have been filed about any involvement from Lasan and the Empire wouldn’t have been invaded. “it would have been better if I died with my men-“

“If you died, Dev would be living in that tower as an orphan and would most likely starve to death,” Kanan said. Kallus wanted to argue, wanted to believe someone else would have found Dev and taken him in, but an image of troopers kicking Dev when they found him in the tower flashed across his mind. No, Kanan was right, Dev would not have lasted long on the streets, and no one would have taken him in. Why though he couldn’t even begin to comprehend. 

“Y-you’re right,” Kallus sighed. “It’s just….hard to remember that sometimes…”

“I know,” Kanan said. 

“I hate to break up the party but we’ve reached the tower,” Hera said. 

“I should go in alone,” Kallus quickly said. “Dev may not come on if strangers are near,”

“If you think that’s best,” Hera agreed. “I’ll keep the ship running in case the Empire shows up.”

“I’ll try and be quick,” Kallus assured before exiting the ship. He had to be careful getting into the tower; if he set off any alarms the Empire would come to investigate and that was the last thing he needed. Thankfully, he knew where all the sensors where and how to avoid them and was able to relatively easily make his way through the tower calling, 

“Dev? Dev are you in here? Its dad…I’m so sorry for making you think I died. I never ever wanted to hurt you…I understand if you never wanted to see me again…if you want me to leave just tell me okay? I…I just need to know you’re safe though…please?”

“D-dad?” Dev asked in a small voice, poking his head out. 

“Dev,” Kallus cried, beaming at him. 

“Dad!” Dev cried, racing over to him. Kallus kneeled down, opening up his arms as Dev charged at him, tightly hugging him as he started to cry in his arms. 

“Shh, shh I’m here, it’s okay,” Kallus soothingly said as he rubbing circles on his back. 

“W-why’d they say you died?” Dev cried. 

“Something very bad happened on my mission and…they wanted me to hurt innocent people and I couldn’t do it…they were going to arrest me so I faked my death so I could get us both as far away from here as possible.”

“We’re….leaving?” Dev worriedly asked. 

“If you want to stay….you can…but if you want to I would love to keep being your dad…”

“…I’m gonna miss here but I don’t want to lose my dad again.” Dev said.

“You won’t, I promise.”


	16. A New Beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it guys, the final chapter...for this story. But I'll get into that in the end notes, for now enjoy! (And just in time for the second half of Season 4....oops?)

While Kallus would have loved to stay as long as they needed to so Dev could calm down, but unfortunately they didn’t have that luxury. The longer they stayed, the greater the risk of the Empire finding them. 

“Come on Dev, let’s get out of here,” Kallus gently said, tightly hugging Dev against his chest as he stood up. 

“Wait!” Dev cried. “Don’t leave Mr. Muttonchops!”

“Mr. Muttonchops?” Kallus slowly asked. 

“Mr. Lyste gave him to me!” Dev said, gesturing to where he had been hiding. “I-I don’t want to leave him.” 

“I’ll get him,” Kallus said, setting Dev down and climbing back to where Dev was. “Where did you get the name?”

“Mr. Lyste told me that was a nickname you had and I liked it,” Dev sheepishly said as Kallus climbed back out with the stuffed Loth-cat in his hands. “Do you not like it?”

“Its fine bud,” Kallus gently assured, passing the plush to Dev. “Just surprised is all.”

“You sure?” Dev asked, hugging Mr. Muttonchops.

“Promise,” Kallus assured, scooping him up into his arms. “Come on, there are some very nice people I’d like you to meet.”

“Who?”

“Some people I recently met and who are the reason I was able to come back to Lothal,” Kallus explained. 

“They brought you back?” Dev asked. 

“Yea,” Kallus assured. “I think you’ll like them.”

“Okay,” Dev agreed. “Is Mr. Lyste with them?”

“…no….he’s not,” Kallus reluctantly told him. 

“Why not?” Dev asked. 

“He wanted to stay behind.”

“Why? Does he not like us?” Dev asked, clutching Mr. Muttonchops to his chest.

“No, he stayed because he feared coming with us would put us in danger,” Kallus gently explained. 

“That doesn’t make sense!” Dev cried. 

“Dev….it’s difficult to explain….I-I couldn’t force him to come with and I wouldn’t, it’s not fair to him to try.”

“Will we ever see him again?” Dev asked in a small voice. “Will we ever see Lothal again?”

“I…I honestly don’t know,” Kallus admitted.

“Do you think we will?”

“Honestly…I doubt we will,” Kallus said. 

“Oh….” Dev whispered, voice thick with emotion as he tightened

“ his grip around Kallus, “You won’t leave me will you?”

“I-I can’t promise nothing will ever happen…but I swear I will do everything in my power to make sure you won’t ever be alone again.”

“Promise?”

“Promise,” Kallus assured as they reached the Ghost. 

“What’s gonna happen now?” Dev asked. 

“Well…that depends on what my new friends can do,” Kallus admitted as they boarded the Ghost. 

“We can set you both up with fake identities and get you settled on a new planet.” Hera assured. 

“Somewhere in the outer rim would be preferred,” Kallus admitted. 

“We can arrange that,” Hera assured. 

“Thank you Hera,” Kallus said. 

“I’m assuming this little guy is Dev?” Kanan asked. 

“Oh yes,” Kallus said, “This is Dev, Dev, this is Hera, Kanan and Zeb.” Dev let out a gasp of terror and buried his face in Kallus’s chest. “Hey, hey what’s wrong?”

“H-he looks like the monsters from my nightmare,” Dev whimpered. 

“Monster?” Kallus asked, concerned. 

“Their where monsters trying to kill you and then a really big building exploded a-and then I woke up and they told us you died!” Dev cried, clinging onto Kallus, who found his mind going numb. How did Dev know about the explosion?

“Did the building look like a castle?” Zeb asked. Dev merely whimpered and clung onto Kallus.

“Dev, Zeb’s not a monster, he saved my life,” Kallus gently said. “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him….look at him, does he look like a monster to you?” Reluctantly, Dev lifted his head from Kallus’s chest to look at Zeb who tentatively waved, ears flat against his head. 

“…No,” Dev mumbled. “I’m sorry….”

“It’s okay,” Zeb assured, going to ruffle his hair before pausing and pulling his hand away. “I get that a lot.”

“It’s not fair….” Dev said. “So I’m sorry for thinking it.” That earned a small chuckle from Zeb who assured, 

“Apology accepted, I promise.” Dev smiled at Zeb before letting out a loud yawn. 

“It’s been a long day, we don’t we find you someplace to lie down and catch up on some sleep?” Kallus gently asked. 

“….okay,” Dev mumbled, nuzzling against Kallus once more. 

“Then we need to talk,” Hera firmly said in a tone that made Kallus realize it was not up for debate. 

“Of course,” Kallus reluctantly agreed, mind spinning. 

“Come on, there’s a spare room he can use,” Kanan said, leading Kallus down the hall. Dev’s nightmare was just a coincidence right? He probably saw pictures of Lasat somewhere and when he knew where Kallus was going had a nightmare….but how did he know about the palace exploding? 

“In here,” Kanan said, leading Kallus into a room. “Put him down on whichever bed.”

“Thank you,” Kallus said, “For everything.”

“Of course,” Kanan said. “I’ll leave you two alone.”

“Thanks,” Kallus said, gently detangling Dev’s arms from around him to get him settled in the bed. 

“Don’t leave…” Dev sleepily begged.

“I’ll still be on the ship, I just need to talk to Hera about a few things,” Kallus gently said, handing Dev Mr. Muttonchops. “I will probably be back before you wake up okay?”

“…promise?”

“Promise,” Kallus assured. “Now go to sleep.”

“I’ll try.” Dev mumbled, settling down and closing his eyes. Kallus smiled and ran his hand through Dev’s hair, finding himself once again reluctant to leave him. He knew he wasn’t going far, but it was still incredibly difficult to leave him, but eventually, he was able to force himself to stand and walk out of the room, uncertain as to what Hera wanted to talk about, but knowing it had something to do with Dev that he would not like at all.

“Kallus,” Hera greeted when he returned. “We need to talk about Dev.”

“What about him?” Kallus asked. 

“His nightmares…have things like that happened before?” Kanan asked. 

“Not that I know of….but they’re just nightmares.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Kanan admitted. “I think he may have had a vision.”

“A….vision, like Jedi?” Kallus slowly asked, mind struggling to process the information. 

“We can’t be positive but there is a tes-“

“No,” Kallus firmly said, “He is not a-a Jedi!”

“You can’t ignore thi-“

“He is just a normal boy who had a nightmare, end of story,” Kallus firmly said, refusing to allow the pieces to fall into place. He was not a Jedi, the Empire didn’t know that he was and did not put out the kill order on him because of it- 

“Kallus, I know this is hard-“ Hera began but Kanan surprisingly cut him off,

“Hera, we can’t force this on them, they aren’t ready to hear it. Besides, he’s a kid and we have no business dragging a kid into a war.”

“Neither of us want anything to do with the Empire or Rebellion, he’s lost too much already to this war,” Kallus firmly said. 

“If….if that’s what you think is best,” Hera sighed. 

“It’s for the best anyways, there’s no one who could teach him if he was,” Kanan said, earning a glare from Hera.

“Now that, that’s settled…do you have a razor I could borrow?”

\----------

Kallus hated the idea of shaving his sideburns, but even he knew they were too recognizable and they had to go for both his and Dev’s safety. He would probably also have to dye his hair and let a new full beard grow out so he could fit in better in the outer rim. But for now at least this would do. 

“Wow….you look….different,” Zeb said when he saw Kallus after he emerged from the fresher. 

“My sideburns where just too recognizable so they had to go,” Kallus sighed, “My face feels so bare….”

“Maybe you could grow something else, a beard or something?” Zeb offered. “I think you looked much better with them.”

“Thanks…I think,” Kallus said with a laugh. “What are you going to do now? I imagine the Empire will not take kindly to a surviving Lasat.”

“Kanan and Hera offered to let me join their crew and…I think I will,” Zeb admitted. “I want the Empire to pay for what they did to Lasan.”

“I completely understand the feeling,” Kallus assured. “The only thing I can think about though is keeping Dev as far away from the war as possible.”

“That makes sense,” Zeb said. “That’s what you should be focusing on, keeping your kit safe.”

“I will,” Kallus assured, “I would with or without yours or anyone’s blessing.”

“That’s even better,” Zeb said. “If you ever find yourself in a situation where you need help, contact me and I’ll help.”

“The same for you Zeb,” Kallus assured. 

“Even if it means bashing in some bucket heads?” Zeb jokingly asked. He knew it was a joke, but to Kallus it wasn’t. He was a former ISB agent, but after the needless slaughter the Empire caused, Kallus wanted nothing to do with them.

“Especially if that’s the case.” 

“If we can reach you of course,” Zeb said.

“We’ll make sure they have a way to contact us if they ever need to,” Hera informed Zeb. “Just in case the Empire tracks them down and they need a quick escape.”

“Thank you, you didn’t have to do all of this for us,” Kallus said. 

“No, but it’s what we do,” Hera firmly said. “Why don’t you go get Dev, we’ll be landing soon.”

“Right,” Kallus agreed, slipping back into the room Dev was sleeping in, finding thankfully he was still fast asleep. “Dev, come on buddy, time to wake up, we’re about to land.” Dev groaned and cuddled Mr. Muttonchops closer. Kallus chuckled and shook his head, scooping him up into his arms to carry him out, Dev grumbling at the motion and reluctantly glancing up at him,

“Dad…why did you shave?” Dev sleepily asked. 

“It’s a disguise,” Kallus explained. “I may need to dye my hair as well…”

“But I like your hair,” Dev mumbled. 

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Kallus assured with a laugh, setting Dev down so he could walk as the Ghost exited hyperspace.

“So what happens now?” Dev asked.

“Now, you two start your new lives,” Hera said. “You’ll have to keep a low profile though.”

“I think we’ll manage,” Kallus assured. “That is if this one can keep out of trouble,” he teasingly added as he ruffled Dev’s hair. 

“Hey!” Dev cried, laughing as he used a free hand to bat Kallus’s hand away. 

“Here are the frequencies to contact us if you ever need to,” Hera said, passing him a data pad with the information on it. 

“Thank you, I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done for us,” Kallus said. 

“Of course,” Hera said with a smile. “Good luck to you both.”

“Good luck to you as well,” Kallus said. 

“I hope I can see you again soon,” Zeb sheepishly said. 

“I do as well,” Kallus admitted. “Zeb…I know you’ve done so much for me already but could I ask another favor?”

“Anything,” Zeb said. 

“This….would draw a lot of unwanted attention,” Kallus admitted, holding out the bo-rifle Kallus had been given to Zeb “Could you maybe keep it safe for me?”

“Are you sure?” Zeb asked, hesitating to take it. 

“Yes,” Kallus assured. “It’s obviously Lasat and the Empire will be looking for anything related to Lasan…”

“I’ll keep it safe,” Zeb assured, taking it from Kallus. “Now you two stay safe as well okay?”

“I’ll make sure he stays safe,” Kallus assured. 

“You stay safe as well though,” Zeb firmly said. 

“Of course,” Kallus dismissively assured. Zeb didn’t look convinced but thankfully didn’t say anything and simply took the bo-rifle.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I hope we don’t meet again,” Kanan admitted. 

“I understand what you mean,” Kallus assured, pulling Dev close. 

“Bye!” Dev said, waving at them.

“See you squirt,” Zeb said, flashing a mock salute at him. 

“Stay out of trouble okay?”

“Trouble seems to follow me, but I’ll try,” Kallus assured. 

“We need to get going,” Hera said.

“Of course, we won’t keep you waiting,” Kallus assured. “Come on Dev, let’s check out our new home.”

“Okay!” Dev agreed, racing ahead. 

“We’ll need to come up with new names-“

“We’ve taken care of it,” Hera assured. 

“You’ve thought of everything it seems,” Kallus said.

“We try,” Hera said. “Now get back to your son.”

“Yes, right, goodbye then,” Kallus said as the small group turned back to the Ghost. Kallus had no idea what the future held for him or Dev, but he knew they would get through it together as a family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the final chapter of Light of Lothal! But don't worry I am not even close to being finished with this AU! It will probably be a couple weeks before I finish the next fic in the series, 'Ashla's Will'. Here's a description for it for now. And if you watch the new Rebels episode tomorrow, please scream with me tomorrow (or today for some of you haha)
> 
> For the past 7 years, Kallus had done everything in his power to keep Dev safe from the Empire's grip. They can only run from their destiny for so long though.
> 
> Don't forget to watch the new Rebels episodes tomorrow!

**Author's Note:**

> Expert from Chapter 2:
> 
> “The Empire tried to burn him alive…” Lyste whispered, mortified. “We burned his house down, not the Rebels.” Kallus’s mind reeled as he processed what Lyste was telling him. No, the Empire would never do something like this. They were supposed to help people! Not slaughter them like animals without even giving them a trial! No the Empire would never do something so inhuman. As much as he tried to convince himself otherwise though, the evidence was right in front of him, taunting him. This was not the Empire he signed up for.


End file.
